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LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

PRINCETON, N. J.

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Cbe Annotated Bible

Cbe Ijoly Scriptures Analysed
and Annotated

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A. C. GAEBELEIN, D.D.

Editor of "OUR HOPE"

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THE PROPHET DANIEL

The Prophet Daniel.

At the close of the history of Hezekiah, the noble king of Judah,
as reported by the prophet Isaiah, is found a significant prophecy.
Hezekiah, like so many other good men before and after him, had
fallen into the crime jf the devil, pride (1 Timothy iii:6), and the Lord
through the prophet Isaiah announced therefore the future judgment
upon the royal house of David: "Behold the days come, that all that
is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store
until this day shall be carried to Babylon, nothing shall be left, saith
the Lord. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou
shalt beget, shall they take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the
palace of the king of Babylon. Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good
is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. He said, moreover.
For there shall be peace and truth in my days" (Isaiah xxxix:6-8).

About one hundred years after this startling prophecy was literally
fulfilled. The opening verses of the book of Daniel introduce us to
this. The Babylonian king came and beseiged the city of Jerusalem
and conquered it. Among those carried away was Daniel and his
companions. Daniel, as we learn from the third verse of the first
chapter, was of princely descent.

This young man, the captive in Babylon, became, through the
marvellous pre Jence of God, one of the leading figures and prominent
actors in the great Babylonian empire, under the reign of Nebuchad-
nezzar. He was made, in spite of his youth, a great man — the prime
minister of Babylon.

Of his personal history, his character and remarkable experiences
we know more than of any of the other prophets of God. As a mere
lad he was brought to the strange land as a captive. We behold him
and his companion, true to Jehovah, maintaining their God-given
place of separation. He honored Jehovah and Jehovah honored him.
Soon the Lord used the young captive by revealing unto him the for-
gotten dream of Nebuchadnezzar and the interpretation of the dream.
Then followed the exaltation of the obscure captive; and afterwards
he seemed to have been the close companion of the great Gentile
monarch, who acknowledged finally the Lord-God of Israel as his
God. Then God honored him by giving him the great visions of the
future, so remarkable in their scope. The Lord appeared unto him; he
talked with angels, and the messenger Gabriel addressed him as "the
man greatly beloved."

As an old man he had been quite forgotten during the reign of the
grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar; only the Queen mother,
the aged wife of Nebuchadnezzar, remembered him. In that memor-
able night when Babylon fell the old prophet interpreted the band.

4 THE PROPHET DANIEL

writing on the wall, though old in years, still young in his faith. Under
the reign of Darius he was cast among the lions, on account of his
devotion to Jehovah, and wonderfully delivered.

What a man of prayer he was we learn Jrom the ninth chapter. He
reached a very old age, continuing even into the reign of Cyrus, and
when his great work was done, ere the Lord called him home, he
received the promise: "But go thy way till the end be; for thou shalt
rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of days" (xii:13). In the great
faith chapter of the Hebrew Epistle his name is not mentioned, but
his deeds are there. "Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought
righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions" (Heb-
rews xi:33).

The Authenticity of Daniel.

V Perhaps no other book of the Bible has been so much attacked as
the Book of Daniel. It is a veritable battlefield between faith and
unbelief. For about 2,000 years, wicked men, heathen philosophers
and infidels have hammered away against it; but the Book has proven
to be the anvil upon which the critics' hammers have been broken into
pieces. The Book has survived all attacks, and we need not fear that
the weak and puerile critics, the most subtle infidels of Christendom
in our day, can harm the Book. It has been denied that Daniel wrote
the book during the Babylonian captivity. Kuenen and Wellhausen
and their imitating disciples like Canon Farrar, Driver and others of
inferior calibre, claim that the work was not written in the Exile, but
centuries later. Daniel had nothing to do with the Book at all; a
holy and gifted Jew^ wrote it instead, and it is avowed fiction. Such
are a few of the infidel statements made against this sublime Book.
These critics follow the wicked assailant of Christianity of the third
century, Porphyr, who contended that the Book of Daniel is a
forgery, that it was written during the time of the Maccabees, after
Antiochus Epiphanes, so clearly foretold in this book, had appeared.
The whole reasoning method of the destructive Bible-Criticism may
be reduced to the following: Prophecy is an impossibility, there is no
such thing as foretelling events to come. Therefore a book which
contains predictions must have been written after the events which
are predicted. But how could the man who committed such a forgery
be a pious Jew? No, the Book of Daniel is either Divine or it is the
most colossal forgery and fraud. No middle ground is possible.

We give a few of the evidences which answer the infidel attacks
upon this great fundamental prophetic book.

It should be enough for every Christian that our Lord, the infallible
Son of God, mentions Daniel by name in His great prophetic discourse
delivered on Olivet (Matthew xxiv:15). There can be no question
that our Lord at least t^yice more referred to the Book of Daniel.
When He speaks of Himself and His coming again in the clouds of

THE PROPHET DANIEL 5

heaven as the Son of Man, He confirms Daniel's vision in chapter
vii:13; and when He speaks of the stone to fall in Matthew xxi:44,
He confirms Daniel ii:44-45. How does the critic meet this argu-
ment? He tells us that our Lord accommodated Himself to the Jewish
views current in His day. They say, perhaps He knew better, and
some say that He did not know. In other words, they deny the infal-
libility of our Lord, and with this invention that He accommodated
Himself against His better knowledge, they accuse our Lord of something
worse. When the Lord uttered the words, "Daniel the Prophet"
He put at once His unimpeachable seal on both the person and the
Book of Daniel.

But there are other evidences. The heathen Porphyr declared
that the Book was written during the days of the Maccabees; as stated
above the modern critics have echoed the opinion of that lost heathen
soul. But the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, which was
made before the times of the Maccabees, contains the Book of Daniel.
It was in the hands of the learned Hebrews, who translated in the
third century before Christ the Hebrew Scriptures into the Greek.
The Book therefore antedates the time of Antiochus Epiphanes.

Furthermore during the days of the Maccabees a book was written,
the first book of the Maccabees, a historical account of those event-
ful days. This Maccabean work not only presupposes the existence
of the Book of Daniel, but shows actual acquaintance with it, and
therefore gives proof that the Book must have been written long be-
fore that period (1 Mace. i:54,compare with Daniel ix:27; ii:59 and
Daniel iii).

The reliable Jewish historian Josephus also furnisheth historically
an evidence for Daniel. He tells us that when Alexander the Great,
who is mentioned in Daniel's prophecy (chapter viii), came to Jeru-
salem in the year 332 B. C, Jaddua the high priest, showed him the
prophecies of Daniel, and Alexander was greatly impressed with them.

Then we have the testimony of another prophet of the exile, the
prophet Ezekiel. He speaks twice in the highest terms of Daniel,
whose contemporary he was. (See Ezekiel xiv:14-20 and xxviii:3.)

Daniel also betrays such an intimate acquaintance with Chaldean
customs and history, as well as their religion, such as none but one
who lived there and was an eye-witness could have possessed. For
instance, the description of the Chaldean magicians perfectly agrees
with the accounts found in other sources. The account of the in-
sanity of Nebuchadnezzar is confirmed by the ancient historian
Berosus.

Then there has been a most striking vindication of this Book through
the Babylonian excavations, tablets, cylinders and monuments. Into
this we cannot fully enter, but we cite but one of the most striking.

The name of Belshazzar furnished for a long time material to the

6 THE PROPHET DANIEL

infidels to reject the historical accuracy of the book. The father of
Belshazzar was Nabonnaid, who was not a son of Nebuchadnezzar
at all. How then could Belshazzar be a grandson of Nebuchadnezzar?
This objection is seemingly strengthened by the fact that no ancient
historians include in the list of Babylonian kings the name of
Belshazzar.

Berosus, who lived about 250 years after the Persian invasion, gives
the following list of Babylonian monarchs:

Nabuchodonosar (Nebuchadnezzar). Evil Marudak, who is the
Evil Merodach of the Bible. Neriglissor. Laborosoarchod. Nabon-
naid. Cyrus, the Persian conqueror.

DiflFerent attempts were made to clear up this diflBculty, but they
failed. Now, if Daniel wrote his Book he must be correct. But the
critics are ever ready to put the doubt not on the side of history, but
on the side of the Bible. So they said Berosus was not mistaken and
that if Daniel really had written the Book which bears his name he
would have been historically correct. This is how matters stood up
to 1854. In that year Sir Rawlinson translated a number of tablets
brought to light by the spade from the ruins of the Babylonian civil-
ization. These contained the memorials of Nabonnaid, and in these
the name of Bil-shar-uzzar appeared frequently, and is mentioned as
the son of Nabonnaid and sharing the government with him. The
existence of Belshazzar and the accuracy of Daniel were at once estab-
lished beyond the shadow of a doubt.

Daniel was promised by Belshazzar to become the third ruler in the
kingdom (Dan. v:16).

Why the third and not the second? Because Nabonnaid was the
first, Belshazzar his son was the second and vice-regent. Nabonnaid
had a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar for wife and therefore Belshazzar
from his mother's side was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar.

But have the critics learned by this complete defeat? Have they
profited by this experience and will they leave the Bible alone? Not
by any means. They will continue to look for flaws in the infallible
Book. Some day they will discover the seriousness of their work.

The Important Prophetic Message of Daniel.
It is impossible to overestimate the importance of the Book of
Daniel. It is the key to all prophecy; without a knowledge of the great
prophecies contained in this book the entire prophetic portion of the
word of God must remain a sealed book. One of the reasons why so
few Christians have a correct knowledge of the prophetic forecast
in the Bible is the neglect of the Book of Daniel. The great prophetic
portions of the New Testament, the Olivet discourse of our Lord
(Matthew xxiv and xxv), and above all the great New Testament
book of prophecy, the Book of Revelation, can only be understood
through the prophecies of Daniel.

run PROPHET DANIEL 7

To both, the Babylonian king and God's prophet were revealed
the political history of the "Times of the Gentiles" (Luke xxi:24).
The rise and fall of the great monarchies. Babylonia, Medo-Persian,
Graeco-Macedonia and the Roman, are successively revealed in this
Book. The appointed end of these times and what will follow the
times of the Gentiles is made known. Our generation lives in the
very shadow of that end. Then there are prophecies relating more
specifically to Jerusalem and the Jewish people, showing what will
yet come for that city and the nation.

It will be impossible in our brief annotations to do justice to all the
details of this prophetic book. The larger work on "The Prophet
Daniel" by the author of the Annotated Bible may be obtained at a
small cost from the publisher and this exposition should be carefully
studied with the accompanying pages.

The Division of Daniel.

The Book of Daniel is written in two languages, in the
Hebrew and in the Aramaic, the language of Chaldea. The
first chapter is WTitten in Hebrew, in style closely allied to
the Hebrew used in the book of Ezekiel. Chapters viii-xii are
likewise written in the Hebrew language. But chapters
ii:4-vii:28 are written in the Aramaic language. This gives
an additional argument for the authenticity of the book.
The author was conversant with both languages, an attain-
ment exactly suited to a Hebrew living in exile, but not
in the least so to an author in the Maccabean age, when
the Hebrew had long since ceased to be a living language,
and had been supplanted by the Aramaic vernacular dia-
lect. Daniel was led to employ both languages for a specific
reason. What concerned these great monarchies, Babylonia
and Medo-Persia, was written in the language with which
they were familiar. What concerned the Jewish people was
written for them in Hebrew. We shall not follow the linguis-
tic division of the book.

We find in the book two main sections :

I. DANIEL IN BABYLON. NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S
DREAM. HISTORICAL EVENTS. Chapters i-vi.

Chapter I. Daniel and His Companions in Babylon.

Chapter II. The Great Prophetic Dream of Nebuchad-
nezzar.

Chapter III-VI. Historical Events.

n. THE GREAT PROPHECIES OF DANIEL. Chap-
ters vii-xii.
Chapter VII. The Night Visions of Daniel.
Chapter VIII. The Vision of the Ram and the He-Goat.
Chapter IX. The Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks.

THE PROPHET DANIEL 9

Chapter X. Preparation for the Final Prophecy.

Chapter XI. The Wars of the Ptolemies and Seleucidae
Predicted. The Coming Events of the End.

. Chapter XII. The Great Tribulation and Israel's Deliver-
ance/

10 THE PROPHET DANIEL

Analysis and Annotations.

I. DANIEL IN BABYLON. NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S
DREAM. HISTORICAL EVENTS.

Chapters i-vi.

CHAPTER I.

DANIEL AND HIS COMPANIONS IN BABYLON.

1. The Introduction. Verses 1-2.

2. The King's Command. Verses 3-5.

3. Daniel and His Companions. Verses 6-21.

1. The Introduction: Verses 1-2. Divine judgment,
which had threatened so long, had finally fallen upon Jerusa-
lem. It was executed by the divinely chosen instrument,
Nebuchadnezzar. Three times he came against Jerusalem.
In 606 B.C. he appeared the first time. This is the visita-
tion mentioned here. In 598 he came again and carried
away more captives, including Ezekiel. In 587 he burned
the city and the temple.

2. The King's Command : Verses 3-5. As already stated
in the introduction the young captives of the king's seed
and of the princes (both of Judah) was in fulfilment of
prophecy. They were to be added to the king's court and
to receive special royal favors, instructions in the wisdom
and language of the Chaldeans and have the privileges of
the king's table.

3. Daniel and His Companions: Verses 6-21. Daniel
means — God is my Judge; Hananiah is — Beloved of the
Lord; Michael — Who is as God; Azariah — ^The Lord is my
help. These beautiful names were soon changed into names
of heathen meaning, to blot out the very memory of Jehovah.
Daniel becomes Belteshazzar (Bel's prince); Hananiah is
named Shadrach (Illumined by the sun-god); Mishael is
called Meshach (who is like Shach-Venus) ; and Azariah is
changed to Abednego (the servant of Nego).

The purpose of the four expressed their loyalty to the

THE PROPHET DANIEL 11

God of their fathers and their obedience to His law. The
Lord rewarded them for their loyalty and faithfulness, as
He is still the rewarder of all who trust in Him and walk in
separation.

CHAPTER II.
NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM AND ITS INTERPRETATION.

1. The Forgotten Dream. Verses 1-13.

2. The Prayer Meeting in Babylon and the Answer. Verses 14-23.

3. Daniel Before the King. Verses 24-28.

4. The Revelation and Interpretation of the Dream. Verses 24-45.

5. The Promotion of Daniel and His Companions. Verses 46-49.

1. The Forgotten Dream: Verses 1-13. The King had
a dream which was occasioned by thinking concerning the
future (verse 29). God answered his desire by this dream,
which made a great impression on him. But he had forgotten
the dream. The soothsayers, wise men and magicians, who
were kept by him to interpret dreams, were unable to reveal
the forgotten dream : they confessed their utter helplessness.
The king condemned them to death. Inasmuch as Daniel
and his companions were counted among the wise men, "they
sought Daniel and his companions to be slain."

2. The Prayer Meeting and the Answer: Verses 14-23.
And now Daniel steps to the front. But there is no haste
and no hurry connected with it, for "He that believeth shall
not make haste." He is brought before the king and prom-
ises to the king the meaning of that dream. It was the lan-
guage of faith; he had confidence in God. He knew that
the same Jehovah who had given another captive wisdom,
Joseph in Egypt, was his God also. Then there was a prayer
meeting in Babylon. While the condemned wise men, the
astrologers and magicians trembled for fear of death, Daniel
and his companions asked "mercies of the God of heaven
concerning this secret." The prayer was speedily answered.

3. Daniel Before the King: Verses 24-28. After Daniel
had praised the God of heaven he requested an audience
with the King. How beautiful he is in the presence of the
mighty Monarch! What an opportunity to glorify himself I

12 THE PROPHET DANIEL

But he hides himself completely and gives God all the glory.
Then he tells the king that in the dream he is about to relate
God has made known unto him "what shall be in the latter
days."

4. The Revelation and Interpretation of the Dream:
Verses 24-45. Daniel then told to the king the forgotten
dream :

Thou, O King, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image,
whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof
was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his
arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet
part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut
out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of
iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay,
the brass, the silver and the gold broken to pieces together, and be-
came like the chaflf of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind
carried them away, that no place was found for them; and the stone
that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole
earth (verses 31-35).

The great man image is the prophetic symbol of the "Times
of the Gentiles." This expression "The Times of the Gen-
tiles" is not found in the Book of Daniel, but it is a New
Testament phrase. Our Lord used it exclusively. In that
part of His prophetic discourse which is reported in the
Gospel of Luke and which relates to the fall of Jerusalem
and the dispersion of the nation, our Lord said: "And they
shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away
captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden
down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles shall be
fulfilled" (Luke xxi:24). Now, the times of the Gentiles
did not begin when Jerusalem rejected the Lord from heaven.
Our Lord does not say that the times of the Gentiles were
then ushered in. The times of the Gentiles started with the
Babylonian captivity by Nebuchadnezzar. The Glory of
the Lord departed from Jerusalem. The other great Prophet
of the captivity, Ezekiel, beheld the departure of the She-
kinah. "Then did tJie Cherubim lift up their wings, and
the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel
was over them above. And the glory of the Lord went up

THE PROPHET DANIEL 13

from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain
which is on the east side of the city" (Ezek. xi:22-23). But
before that Jeremiah recorded a remarkable word. These
are the words of Jehovah concerning Nebuchadnezzar:

I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the
ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have
given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. And now have I given
all these lands into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon,
my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve
him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son,
until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and
great kings shall serve themselves of him. And it shall come to pass,
that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuch-
adnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under
the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the
Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence,
until I have consumed them by his hand (Jeremiah xxvii: 5-9).

Jerusalem had been supreme because the throne and the
glory of Jehovah was there. Though Assyria, Egypt and
Babylon had tried repeatedly to overthrow Jerusalem, they
were held in check by the power of God and Divine inter-
vention, but when the measure of the wickedness of Jeru-
salem was full, Nebuchadnezzar was chosen to become the
first great monarch of the times of the Gentiles. The do-
minion was then taken away from Jerusalem and transferred
to the Gentiles.

Therefore the golden head in this prophetic man-image
represents Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian empire.
The chest of silver, according to Divine interpretation,
stands for an inferior monarchy which was to follow the
Babylonian empire. This second world empire is the Medo-
Persian. The belly and thighs of brass represent the third
great monarchy, the Graeco-Macedonian. The fourth great
monarchy which was to rise during the times of the Gentiles,
represented by the two legs of iron, is the iron empire, Rome.
Here, then, is history pre- written. 3od, who knows the
end from the beginning, rev^ealed in this dream the coiu-se
of the times of the Gentiles, beginning with the Babylonian
monarchy and followed by three more: The Medo-Peysian,

14 THE PROPHET DANIEL

the Graeco-Macedonian and the Roman. Notice the pro-
cess of deterioration as indicated in the composition of this
image: Gold, silver, brass, iron, and finally the iron getting
less and clay taking a prominent place. It shows that polit-
ically the times of the Gentiles are not improving.

Everything which this image represents has been fulfilled,
except the last portion, when a stone falls out of heaven
and strikes the ten toes and the clay, so that the whole
colossal figure goes to pieces, the different constituent
metals become like the chaff on the summer thresliingfloor
and the striking stone becomes a mountain and fills the
whole earth.

The fourth Empire, the Roman, has not yet fulfilled its
history. The final form, and with it the final form of the
times of the Gentiles is yet to pass into history. This final
form is symbolically seen in the ten toes and the clay, in
the feet of the image. The territory which constituted the
now extinct Roman empire will in the near future undergo
a political revival. It will reappear in a confederated Europe,
except certain countries which never belonged to the Roman
empire. In that confederacy will be kingdoms to the num-
ber of ten; the clay represents democracies, the rule by the
people and for the people. The late great war has brought
such a political combination into our times. Such is the
future and end of the times of the Gentiles, as foretold in
the feet of the image.

But what does the smiting stone represent, the stone which
abolisheth the image and becomes itself a great mountain
filling the whole earth?

The Stone is Christ. That the stone represents Christ is
seen from the Scriptures. "Behold, I lay in Zion for a foun-
dation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure
foundation" (Isa. xxviii:16). Zechariah speaks of this stone
with seven eyes upon it and engraven. We read of Him in
the New Testament as the foiuidation stone of the church,
the cornerstone, the stone rejected by the builders. Most
interesting is His own word in the Gospel of Matthew:
"And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken:

THE PROPHET DANIEL 15

but ou whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder"
(Matt, xxi:44). Here We have Israel's sin and judgment
and the fate of the Gentiles. Israel stumbled against this
stone; for them He was a stumblingstone and rock of offence.
In consequence they were broken as a nation. But the
Gentile world, rejecting Him, will be broken when the stone
falls. They will be ground to powder by the falling stone.
Our Lord must have had the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in
mind when he spake these words. The falling stone of which
He speaks and the striking stone in the dream mean the same
Person, Himself.

The stone doing its work in smiting the image is a proph-
ecy of the second coming of our Lord. The mountain filling
after that the earth foreshadows that kingdom which will
be established with the return of Christ and His enthrone-
ment as King of kings.

5. The Promotion of Daniel and His Companions: Verses
46-49. The heathen monarch then acknowledged Daniel's
God in a threefold way: The God of gods (the Father); the
Lord of Kings (God the Son) ; the Revealer of secrets (God
the Holy Spirit). Daniel is lifted from the place of humilia-
tion to a place of exaltation. He did not forget his com-
panions; they share honor and glory with him. It is a
beautiful picture of that day when our Lord will receive
the throne and when His own will not be left behind in
sharing with Him His glory.

HISTORICAL EVENTS.
CHAPTERS HI- VI.

The four chapters which follow the great dream of Neb-
uchadnezzar are of a historical character. They do not
contain direct prophecies, but record certain events which
transpired during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, his successor
and grandson Belshazzar, and Darius, the Mede. On the
personal history of these three persons and where they are
found in profane history we have little to say, as a deeper
examination of this subject would lead us too far and would
be tedious. But this much nuist be said that the criticism

16 THE PROPHET DANIEL

which charged Daniel with being incorrect has been com-
pletely silenced by the Babylonian cylinders of Cyrus and
Nabonnaid and the so-called annalistic tablets, the very
records of those days. It is true the personality of Darius
the Mede has not yet been definitely located historically.
However, we do not believe the Bible because its historical
statements can be verified from profane history. We be-
lieve the Bible because its records are divinely inspired and
therefore correct. What would we know of the genuineness
of these ancient tablets and cylinders covered with cunei-
form inscriptions if it were not for the Bible? These wit-
nesses from the stones, which indeed cry out, do not verify
the Bible, they are rather declared genuine and correct by
the Word of God.

These four chapters then give us historical events. Each
has a prophetic meaning, though direct prophecy is not
found in them.

These chapters describe the moral conditions which held
sway during the two first world empires; they indicate
prophetically the moral conditions which continue to the
end of the times of the Gentiles. Five things may be traced
in these four chapters: The moral characteristics of the
times of the Gentiles; what will happen at the close of these
times; the faithful remnant in suffering; their deliverance
and the Gentiles acknowledging God, as King and the God
of heaven.

CHAPTER III.

THE IMAGE OF GOLD.

1. The Image of Gold. Verses 1-7.

2. The Faithful Three. Verses 8-18.

3. The Miraculous Deliverance. Verses 19-25.

4. The Worshipping King.

1. The Image of Gold: Verses 1-7. He had an immense
statue of gold made, the image of a man, no doubt, and he
set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
It was idolatry and the deification of man. Idolatry and
the deification of man are then the first moral characteris-

THE PROPHET DANIEL 17

tics mentioned which are to prevail during the times of the
Gentiles. The times of the Gentiles produce a religion
which is opposed to the God of heaven. The image was
sixty cubits high and six broad. Seven is the divine number
and six is the number of man. Sixty cubits and six re-
minds us of that familiar passage in the Book of Revelation,
where we have the number of a man given, that mysterious
number "Six hundred three-score and six," that is 666. The
image then represents man, but the climax of man was not
yet reached. However, the beginning foreshadows the end
of the times of the Gentiles. That end is described in
chapter xiii of Revelation.

The civil power tried to force this universal religion upon
the people. The great governors, judges, captains and rulers
had to appear for the dedication of the image. But then
the whole thing had a religious aspect. Listen, after looking
at this great awe-inspiring image of gold — the sweetest
music — the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, psal-
tery, dulcimer and all kinds of music sounds forth. No
doubt the Chaldean priests approached chanting some sweet
Babylonian song. Why all this.^* To stir up the religious
emotions and aid in this way the worship of an idol. It is
intensely interesting that the ancient Babylonian worship,
with its ceremonials and chanting is reproduced in Rome,
which is called in Revelation, Babylon.*

2. The Faithful Three: Verses 8-18. The companions
of Daniel refused to worship the image and were cast into
the fiery furnace. Notice their wonderful trust in God.

3. The Miraculous Deliverance: Verses 19-25. The
very men who cast them down were consumed by the flames.
But when the King looked towards the furnace he beheld
to his great astonishment not three men bound and burning
up, but four men loose and actually walking in the fire.
"They have no hurt and the form of the fourth is like the
Son of God." And when they were brought up from the

*The Book by Mr. Hyslop "The Two Babylons" gives reliable and
important information on this fact.

18 THE PROPHET DANIEL

fiery furnace, no smell of fire was about them, not even a
hair was singed, only the bands which has bound them were
burned off. The fire had set them free but it could not
touch them. But did the King speak true when he beheld
the fourth like the Son of God? Little did he know what
he said or what it meant, but assuredly he saw in that fire
the Son of God, Jehovah, for He had promised His people,
"When thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be
burned; neither shall the flame kindle on thee." The
faithful Lord kept His promise to His trusting servants.

And has not all this been repeated throughout the times
of the Gentiles especially during the Roman Empire?
Pagan Rome persecuted the true worshippers of God and
in great persecutions multitudes suffered martyrdom.
But think of what is worse. Papal Rome, that Babylon the
Great, the mother of harlots. There we find the images
and the sweet music, the prostrations and political power
enforcing unity of worship. The fiery furnaces were there,
the stake, the most awful tortures for those who were faith-
ful to God and to their Lord. Think of the story of the
Waldensians and Huguenots And while for these noble
martyrs, for whom there is a martyr's crown in the coming
day of Christ, there came no deliverance and their bodies
were consumed by the fire, yet the Son of God was with
them and with praising hearts and a song upon their lips.
He carried them through the fire.

And during the great tribulation will a faithful rem-
:iant of Jews suffer under the man of sin, as these three
Hebrews suffered; but they will likewise be delivered.

4. The Worshipping King. Verses 26-30. Once more
Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged God and made a decree
that severe punishment should be the lot of all who say
anything amiss against the God of Daniel's companions.

THE PROPHET DANIEL 19

CHAPTER IV.
THE TREE VISION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR.

1. The King's Proclamation. Verses 1-3.

2. The King Relates the Tree Vision. Verses 4-18.

3. Daniel Interprets the Vision. Verses 19-27.

4. The Tree Vision Fulfilled. The Kings Abasement and

Restoration. Verses 28-37.

1. The King's Proclamation: Verses 1-3. This chapter
is in form, at least in part, of a proclamation. This pro-
clamation must have been written after the king had passed
through the experience recorded in this chapter.

2. The King Relates the Tree Vision: Verses 4-18. Read
carefully the vision the king had and compare with Ezekiel
xxxi:3 and Matthew xiii, the parable of the mustard seed.
In each case the great big tree is tlie symbol of pride and
self -exaltation.

3. Daniel Interprets the Vision: Verses 19-27. The
prophet's interpretation of this dream needs no further
comment. A careful reading will make it clear in its
meaning.

4. The Tree Vision Fulfilled. The King's Abasement
and Restoration: Verses 28-37. Twelve months later he
walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. Then with
a haughty mien he utters the fatal words: "Is not this great
Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom
by the might of ray power and for the honor of my majesty."
Notice the personal pronoun. But while he yet uttered
these words a heavenly voice was heard which announced
that the kingdom is departed from him. What Daniel
had said in his interpretation is repeated from heaven.
The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar
and he was driven from men and did eat grass as the oxen,
and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs
were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds'
claws. And after the seven times had passed over him his
understanding returned unto him and he blessed the Most
High.

The great characteristic here is pride and self-exaltation.

20 THE PROPHET DANIEL

As judgment came upon the great monarch in the begin-
ning of the times of the Gentiles, so judgment will yet fall
upon this proud and self-exalting age of the Gentiles. That
great big, political and religious tree will some day be hewn
down and be destroyed.

And Nebuchadnezzar's great humiliation in becoming
a beast for seven times (seven years),* points us to the end
of this Gentile age once more. Apostasy from God will be
the great characteristic of that end. There will be no more
looking up to God, but the attitude of the beast will be the
attitude of the nations. We see much of this already.
They mind earthly things and become the "earth-dwellers"
so frequently mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Mad-
ness and bestiality will seize upon the Gentiles, after the
One who hinders, the Holy Spirit is removed. Then proud
and apostate Christendom will believe the lie and follow
the beast with its lying wonders. This will last seven
times, that is, seven years.

The stump of the great tree which remains in the field
suggests the fact that the judgments which fall upon the
nations in the time of the end will not completely destroy
all nations. Many of them will be swept away. For
those who wilfully rejected the Gospel and turned away
from the truth, there is no hope. But there are others
which will be left and when these judgments are in the
earth, the nations learn righteousness. .

The millennium is also seen in this chapter in the restor-
ation of Nebuchadnezzar and in the praise He gives to the
Most High. In the previous chapter the three friends of
Daniel speak of "Our God," but in this chapter we hear of
"The Most High." It is the millennial name of God. We
see then in the fourth chapter the pride and self-exaltation
of the Gentiles, and how the Gentiles will be humiliated
and judged. First there is self-exaltation, that is followed

*The attempt to ascertain from this "seven times" the length of
the times of the Gentiles as some do lacks the support of Scripture.
The seven times mean seven years.

THE PROPHET DANIEL 21

by judgment, and then follows restoration and the acknow-
ledgement of the Most High.

That nothing more is now reported of Nebuchadnezzar,
that the last which we hear of him in Scripture is his acknow-
ledgment of the Most High, is also not without meaning.
It foreshadows the universal acknowledgment of God in
the Kingdom which the God of heaven will set up, when the
stone fills as the mountain the whole earth.

CHAPTER V.
BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST.

1. Belshazzar's Licentious Feast. Verses 1-4.

2. The Writing on the Wall. Verses 5-9.

3. Forgotten Daniel. Verses 10-16.

4. The Message of Daniel. Verses 17-31.

1. Belshazzar^s Licentious Feast: Verses 1-4. This
feast of wickedness and blasphemy needs no further anno-
tations. But it shows the great decline morally in the
great Babylonian empire. Nebuchadnezzar, no doubt,
had handled the golden vessels of the house of the Lord
most carefully. He had stored them away, fearing to
misuse them. The grandson sent for these vessels to drink
out of them wine with his harlots and to praise his idols.

2. The Writing on the V/all: Verses 5-9. A mysterious
finger then wrote over against the candlestick on the wall.
The king saw plainly the part of the hand that wrote. The
feast of licentiousness became suddenly a feast of gloom
and consternation. Nor could the astrologers and wise
men read thfe writing which had appeared on the wall.

3. Forgotten Daniel: Verses 10-16. At this point the
Queen, the aged widow of Nebuchadnezzar, appeared on
the scene and called attention to an old man, who played
such an important part during the reign of her husband.
Daniel is sent for.

4. The Message of Daniel: Verses 17-31. Daniel
refused the honors of the king. He knew that ere long the
blaspheming king would be no more. And Daniel was
more than an interpreter of the handwriting on the wall.

22 THE PROPHET DANIEL

He is God's prophet and messenger, as a reading of this
portion of the chapter shows.

This chapter reveals the blasphemous character of the
end of the Babylonian monarchy. Blasphemy, rejection
of God's Truth are about us on all sides. There is a "Mene,
Mene, Tekel" for apostate Christendom and for that final
phase of Babylon as revealed in Rev. xvii and xviii.

CHAPTER VI.
UNDER DARIUS THE MEDE. DANIEL IN THE LION'S DEN.

1. The Decree of Darius. Verses 1-9.

2. Daniel's Faith and Steadfastness. Verses 10-15.

3. Daniel Cast into the Lion's Den, and the Deliverance.
Verses 16-24.

4. The Degree of Darius. Verses 25-28.

1. The Decree of Darius: Verses 1-9. From the opening
of this chapter we learn that Daniel also held a very high
position in the beginning of the second monarchy, which
had conquered Babylonia. He was preferred above all
the other presidents and princes. This created jealousy.
They devised a very cunning plan and made the king sign
a decree, which they were sure Daniel would break. Inas-
much as the law of the Persians and Medes was irrevocable
they were sure that the hated old man would be cast into
the lion's den.

2. Daniel's Faith and Steadfastness: Verses 10-15.
It is a beautiful scene. When Daniel knew the decree had
been signed, he went calmly back into his house and with
his windows open towards Jerusalem he prayed and gave
thanks to the Lord. He looked away from earthly circum-
stances and looked to the omnipotent One. The accusation
followed. The king now discovers that he is in a desperate
condition. His law demands that Daniel be cast to the
lions, but his heart filled with love for Daniel would have
liked to save him, but he found no way of delivering him.

Well may we think here of another Law and another
Love. God, a holy and righteous God and a God of love,
found a way to save man. God's holy Law condemns man,
who is a sinner and the curse of the law rests upon him.

THE PROPHET DANIEL 23

God's Love is set upon the world, and He "so loved the
world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whoso-
ever believeth on Him should not perish, but have ever-
lasting life." The curse of the Law came upon Him who
knew no sin and who was made sin for us, and therein is
Love manifested. Daniel is cast into the lions' den as our
blessed Lord was given to the lion (Psalm xxii:21), and a
stone is laid upon the mouth of the den and it is sealed with
the King's signet. He is so to speak in a grave, as good as
dead in the eyes of the world, for who has ever heard of
hungry lions not devouring a man. And all this brings
before us that other place, the tomb in the garden, where
He was laid and the stone before it, which bore the seal of
the Roman world power. But as Daniel could not be hurt
by the lions, so He who went into the jaws of death could
not be hoi den by death. The tomb is empty and He is
victor over death and the grave. All this is blessedly fore-
shadowed in this experience of God's prophet.

The Lord in whom Daniel trusted and whom he served
delivered him from the lions. His accusers and their
families were given to the ferocious beasts, which devoured
them at once.

4. The Decree of Darius: Verses 25-28. King Darius
also acknowledged the God of Daniel.

The final characteristic of the times of the Gentiles is
man worship. The heads of these empires including the
Roman Caesars claimed divine honors. Papal Rome also
puts up man as the viceregent of the Lord. And all about
us we find the deification of man. Finally there comes the
head of all this apostasy, the son of perdition, the man of sin,
who demands worship for himself (2 Thessalonians ii).

IL THE GREAT PROPHECIES OF DANIEL.

Chapters vii-xii.
CHAPTER VII.

THE NIGHT VISIONS OF DANIEL.

1. The Night Vision of the Three lieasts. Verses 1-6.

2. The Night Vision of the Fourth Beast. Verses 7-8.

24 THE PROPHET DANIEL

3. The Judgment Vision. Verses 9-12.

4. The Son of Man and His Kingdom. Verses 13-14.

5. The Interpretation of the Visions Given. Verses 15-28.

1. The Night Vision of the Three Beasts. Verses 1-6.

The sea in the vision is the type of nations (Rev. xvii:15).
The three first beasts he saw represented the same great
monarchies which were shown to Nebuchadnezzar in his
dream by the gold, silver and brass. The lion Daniel saw
first rising out of the sea stands for the Babylonian empire
symbolized by the lion (Jere. iv:7). The plucking of the
wings and the man's heart must refer to Nebuchadnezzar's
insanity and restoration (chapter iv). The bear is the
emblem of the Medo-Persian monarchy (corresponding to
the chest of silver in the image). One side of the bear was
raised up, higher than the other, because the Persian element
was the strongest. The three ribs denote the conc^uest
of three provinces by this power. The leopard with four
heads and wungs is the picture of the great Alexandrine
empire, the Graeco-Macedonian (corresponding to the
belly and thighs of brass in the image).

The fou -wings denote its swiftness, the four heads the
partition of this empire into the kingdoms of Syria, Egypt,
Macedonia and Asia Minor. It is seen in the next chapter
as the rough he-goat with a notable horn (Alexander the
Great) and the little horn (Antiochus Epiphanes). The
fourth beast was not seen in the first vision. Before we
turn to the second night vision of the Prophet we call atten-
tion to the fact that in the selection of beasts to represent
these world powers who domineer the times of the Gentiles,
God tells us that their moral character is beastly. The
lion devours, the bear crushes, the leopard springs upon
its prey.

2. The Night Vision of the Fourth Beast: Verses 7-8.
This represents Rome, corresponding to the two legs of
iron and the ten horns with the little horn between has the
same meaning as the ten toes on the feet of the image. The
little horn we find more fully mentioned in another portion
of this chapter. Thus the prophet beheld the same mon-

THE PROPHET DANIEL 25

archies revealed in the second chapter under the emblem
of ferocious beasts. Such the nations are and in their
standards and national emblems they have borne witness
to their beastly characters. Notice also here the same
process of deterioration as in the image. The monarchies
degenerate from lion to bear, from bear to leopard and then
into a great nondescript.

3. The Judgment Vision: Verses 9-12. This vision
bring us to the close of the times of the Gentiles. When
the fourth beast with the ten horns and the little horn, the
last thing spoken of this world empire, is in full swing, then
the end comes. It is a great judgment scene which is here
before us. How different the end of this age as revealed
in the Word and as it is believed in Christendom. The
great mass knows nothing whatever about this age coming
to an end. It will go on indefinitely, so they believe, and
its future is world progress, better times and the triumph
of the Christian civilization. But others concede that a
judgment must come and they think of the judgment here
as the universal judgment, the great white throne judgment.
This judgment is not the last judgment at all. 1+ ,is a judg-
ment which precedes the final judgment by 1,000 years.
This judgment here must be read in connection with pass-
ages like Matthew xxv:31-46 and Rev. xix:19-21. In
reading the last passage no one can doubt that we have
the same judgment here revealed to Daniel. But who
is the One who occupies the central place in this vision
of judgment? There can be but one answer. It is our
ever blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. John v:22
gives the conclusive answer: "For the Father judgetli no
man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." The
Ancient of Days is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is still more
demonstrated if we turn to John's great Patmos vision.

4. The Son of Man and His Kingdom: Verses 13-14.
These words are so plain that every Christian knows what
they mean. They describe the second coming of Christ
and the Kingdom He then receives from the Father's hands.
If this passage were more considered, Christians would

26 THE PROPHET DANIEL

stop speaking about the kingdom now. No kingdom till
Christ comes again. Both the judgment vision and the
vision of His coming to receive the kingdom correspond
to the stone which smites the image and as a mountain fills
the whole earth.

4. The Interpretations of the Visions given: Verses 15-28.
First, Daniel hears about the four beasts. But there is a
significant statement in verse 18, the Saints of the most
High receiving the kingdom.

Who are the Saints of the Most High? The fact that
the term "Most High" is in the plural and may also be
translated with "The most high or heavenly places" has
led some expositors to say that the Saints are the same
who are seen in the Epistle to the Ephesians in which "the
heavenly places" are repeatedly mentioned: in other words,
the Saints which compose the church. It is true the church
will be with the Lord in Glory and "we shall reign over the
earth," but this does not necessarily mean that the Saints
here represent the church. There are other Saints besides
"Church Saints." The Saints of whom Daniel was
thinking were his own beloved people. To that people is
promised a kingdom in the days of the Messiah. With
Him, the Lord in Glory, there is a heavenly people, so as
Messiah and the Son of Man in connection with the earth
He has an earthly people, Saints which will receive and
possess with Him that kingdom which will fill the whole
earth. These Saints are the Godfearing Jews, who pass
through the great tribulation and inherit the blessings and
promises which God gave through their own prophets.

Another important matter is the little horn of whom
now Daniel hears more fully. The ten horns are kings and
the little horn in their midst will be the final imperial head
of the revived Roman empire, that world domineering
person of whom we read repeatedly in the Word of God.
He must be distinguished from another one, the personal
anti-Christ, the man of sin and son of perdition. In Rev-
elation the revived Roman Empire is seen in chapter xiii:
1-10, and the second beast which John saw rising from the

THE PROPHET DANIEL 27

sea is the false Christ having two horns like a lamb but
speaking like a dragon (Rev. xiii:ll, etc.). A closer study
of these coming leaders of the end time is needed to under-
stand the details; here we but point the way. Our larger
work on Daniel will give help on all these chapters.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE RAM AND THE HE-GOAT.

1. The Vision. Verses 1-14.

2. The Interpretation of the Vision. Verses 15-27.

1. The Vision: Verses 1-14. Beginning with this chapter
to the end of the book prophecy will lead us mostly upon
Jewish ground. While some of these prophecies were ful-
filled in the past, most of them are related to the future
when the great end fulfillment takes place before tlie coming
of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven to receive the
kingdom. The phrases "the latter times," "the time of the
end," "in the last end of the indignation," appear several
times in these chapters. These phrases describe the same
period of time mentioned in the seventh chapter, "a time,
times and dividing of times;" the 1,260 days or 43 months
in the book of Revelation. It is the great tribulation
which is recorded in the last chapter of this book.

The time and place of the vision in this chapter are given
in the beginning. The Ram, according to divine inter-
pretation (verses 15, etc.), is the Medo-Persian monarchy
— the silver kingdom, the kingdom also typified by the bear.
The He-goat with a notable horn is the Graeco-Macedonian
monarchy and the notable horn is Alexander the Great.
In 334 B. C, Alexander leaped like a swift he-goat across
the Hellespont and fought his successful battles, then
pushed on to the banks of the Indus and the Nile and then
onward to Shushan. The great battles of the Granicus,
Issus and Arbella were fought, and he stamped the power
of Persia and its King, Darius Codomannus, to the ground.
He conquered rapidly Syria, Phoenicia, Cyprus, Tyre,
Gaza, Egypt, Babylonia, Persia. In 329 he conquered
Bactria, crossed the Oxus and Jaxaitis and defeated the

28 THE PROPHET DANIEL

Scythians. And thus he stamped upon the ram after
having broken its horns. But when the he-goat had waxed
very great, the great horn was broken. This predicted the
early and sudden death of Alexander the Great. He died
after a reign of 12 years and eight months, after a career
of drunkenness and debauchery in 323 B. C. He died
when he was but 32 years old. Then four notable ones
sprang up in the place of the broken horn. This too has
been fulfilled, for the empire of Alexander was divided into
four parts. Four of the great generals of Alexander made
the division namely, Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus and
Ptolemy. The four great divisions were, Syria, Egypt,
Macedonia and Asia Minor.

Then a little horn appeared out of one of these divisions;
it sprung up out of Syria. This little horn is of course not
the little horn mentioned in the previous chapter, for the
little horn in Daniel vii has its place in connection with the
fourth beast (Rome), while this one comes from a division
of the third beast, the Graeco-Macedonian monarchy.

History does not leave us in doubt of how and when this
great prophetic vision was fulfilled. This little horn is the
eighth king of the Seleucid dynasty. He is known by the
name of Antiochus Epiphanes; after his wild and wicked
deeds he was called Epimanes, the madman. Long
before he invaded the pleasant land (Israel's land), Daniel
saw what he would do. He conquered Jerusalem. He
took away the daily sacrifice in the temple and offered a
swine and swine's blood upon the altar. He introduced
idol worship, devastated the whole land and killed some
100,000 Jews.

^ In verses 13-14 is an angelic conversation. The 2,300
days (literal days) cover just about the period of time
during which Antiochus did his wicked deeds. When they
were ended Judas Maccabaeus cleansed the sanctuary
about December 25, 165 B. C.

We believe these 2,300 days are therefore literal days
and have found their literal fulfillment in the dreadful days
of this wicked king from the North. There is no other

THE PROPHET DANIEL 29

meaning attached to these days and the foolish speculations
that these days are years, etc., lacks scriptural foundation
altogether. Such views and fanciful interpretations bring
the study of Prophecy into disrepute. We have special ref-
erence to the Seventh Day Adventist delusion. They
teach the abominable falsehood that the Lord Jesus Christ
did not enter into the Holiest till the year 1844 had been
reached, because this is according to their reckoning 2,300
years after Cyrus had issued the command to build the
temple. That this is a denial of the Gospel itself and Sat-
anic is self-evident.

2. The Interpretation of the Vision: Verses 15-27. Gab-
riel is the interpreter of the whole vision. It should be
carefully studied. It points to a future fulfillment.

Gabriel told Daniel that the vision has a special meaning
for the time of the end. Four different expressions are
used to denote the time of the final fulfillment of the vision :
(1) "The time of the end," viii:17. (2) "The last end of
the indignation," viii:19. (3) "The latter time of their
kingdom" viii:23. (4) "When the transgressors are come
to the full," verse 23.

Once more, at the close of the age, before the Lord comes
in visible glory, in the days of the great tribulation, the
time of Jacob's trouble, an invasion from the North takes
place. Israel's land will once more undergo the horrors
of a devastation, foreshadowed by Antiochus Epiphanes.
The King of the North, as he is also called in Isaiah's pro-
phecy, "the Assyrian," will do this work. For details and
other prophecies relating to this coming event see our
exposition of Daniel, pages 102-118.

CHAPTER IX.
THE PROPHECY OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS.

1. The Time and Occasion of Daniel's Prayer. Verses 1-2.

2. The Prayer. Verses 3-19.

3. The Answer and the Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks. Verses
20-27.

1. The Time and Occasion of Daniel's Prayer. Verses
1-2. It was in the first year of Darius, of the seed of the

30 THE PROPHET DANIEL

Medes, that Daniel understood by the sacred writings of
his people, especially by the prophecy of Jeremiah, that
the end of the years of the captivity was at hand. The
promises in the Word of God led him at once to seek the
face of the Lord and he poured out a wonderful prayer in
His presence.

2. The Prayer: Verses 3-19. It has three parts. Verses
4-10: Confession of the failure of his people and acknow-
ledgment of God's covenant mercies. Verses 11-14: The
deserved curse as written in the law of Moses. Verses 15-19 :
Pleadings for mercy to turn away His anger and to remem-
ber His city, Jerusalem and His people. Throughout this
prayer we read how completely he identified himself with
the sins, the failure, the shame and the judgment of the
people of God. This is remarkable. As we have seen from
the first chapter, he was brought to Babylon when quite
young and belonged even then to the believing, God fearing
element of the nation. Yet he speaks of the nation's sins,
their rebellion, their transgressions of the law and their
wicked deeds as if they belonged to him. Of all the Bible
characters Daniel appears as the purest. The failures of
Abraham, Moses, Aaron, David and others are recorded,
but Daniel appears with no flaw whatever in his character.
As far as the record goes he was a perfect man. Of course
he too was "a man of like passions" as we are, and as such
a sinner. Yet this devoted and aged servant with such a
record of loyalty to God and to His laws confesses all the
people's sins and the curse and shame, which came upon
them as His own.

3. The Answer and the Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks:
Verses 20-27. The prayer was not ended. How near
heaven is may be learned from verses 20-32. Heaven is
not far away, for there is no space and no distance with
God. When Daniel began his confession and humiliation
the Lord called Gabriel and instructed him what he should
tell the praj'ing prophet, and then Gabriel was caused to
fly swiftly through the immeasurable space, and before
Daniel ever reached the "Amen" the messenger stood

THE PROPHET DANIEL 31

before him and stopped his prayer. What blessed assur-
ance! The moment we pray in the Spirit and in His Name
our voices are heard in the highest heaven.

We give a corrected text of the great prophecy, perhaps
the greatest in the entire prophetic Word.

Seventy weeks are apportioned out upon thy people and upon thy
holy city to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins, and to
cover iniquity, and to bring in the righteousness of the ages, and to
seal the vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies. Know
therefore and understand: From the going forth of the word to re-
store and to rebuild Jerusalem unto Messiah, the Prince, shall be
Seven Weeks and Sixty-two Weeks. The street and the wall shall be
built again, even in troublous times. And after the Sixty-two Weeks
shall Messiah be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people of the
prince that shall come shall destroy the city ^nd the sanctuary; and
the end thereof shall be with overflow, and unto the end war, the
desolations determined. And he shall confirm a covenant with the
many for one week; and in the midst of the week he shall cause the
sacrifice and the oblation to cease and because of the protection of
abominations there shall be a desolator, even until the consummation
and what is determined shall be poured out upon the desolator
(verses 24-27).

The literal translation of the term "seventy weeks" is
"seventy -sevens." Now, this word "sevens" translated
"weeks" may mean "days" and it may mean "years."
What then is meant here, seventy times seven days or
seventy times seven years? It is evident that the "sevens"
mean year weeks, seven years to each prophetic week.
Daniel was occupied in reading the books and in prayer
with the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity. And
now Gabriel is going to reveal to him something which will
take place in "seventy -sevens," which means seventy times
seven years. The proof that such is the case is furnished
by the fulfillment of the prophecy itself. Now seventy-
seven years makes 490 years.

What is to be accomplished. Verse 24 gives the great
things which are to be accomplished during these seventy-
year weeks or 490 years. They are the following: (1) To
finish the transgression. (2) To make an end of sins.
(3) To cover iniquity, (4) To bring in the righteousness

32 THE PROPHET DANIEL

of ages. (5) To seal the visiou and prophet. (6) To
anoint the Holy of Holies.

It must be borne in mind that these things concern
exclusively Daniel's people and not Gentiles but the holy
city Jerusalem. It is clear that the finishing of transgres-
sion, the end of sins and the covering of iniquity has a
special meaning for Israel as a nation.

Now, these seventy year-weeks are divided into three
parts. The first part consists in seven weeks, that is seven
times seven, 49 years. During these 49 years the street
and the wall of Jerusalem was to be rebuilt and the complete
restoration accomplished. The reckoning of this time
begins in the month Nisan, 445 B. C, when the command
was given (Nehemiah ii). Then follows the second division
consisting of 62 weeks of years, that is sixty-two times
seven, 434 years. At the close of these 434 years, or 483
years reckoned from the month Nisan in 445 B. C, Messiah
the Prince should be cut off and have nothing. Messiah
the Prince is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Here
then is a startling prediction of the death of Christ, the
Messiah rejected by His people and not receiving the king-
dom which belongs to Him as the Son of David. The
sixty-two weeks, or 434 years, expired on the day our Lord
rode into Jerusalem for the last time; during that week He
was crucified.*

*For full proof see "The Coming Prince," by Anderson, and our book
on the Prophet Daniel.

THE PROPHET DANIEL

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34 THE PROPHET DANIEL

Then we have a remarkable prediction concerning the
fate of Jerusalem after the nation rejected the Lord Jesus
Christ: "And the people of the Prince that shall come
shall destroy the city and the sanctuary ; and the end thereof
shall be with an overflow, and unto the end war, the deso-
solations determined." Who is "the Prince that shall
come?" Expositors have erred seriously in making of this
prince the Lord Jesus Christ. This Prince is not our Lord.
It is the little horn predicted in Daniel vii to rise out of the
Roman Empire in the time of the end, when the Roman
Empire is revived politically and has its ten horns. There-
fore "the people of the prince that shall come" are the
Roman people. Here then is a prediction that the Romans
were to take the city and burn the sanctuary. How liter-
ally this has been fulfilled! And all this was revealed when
the Roman Empire was not yet in existence. Such are
the marvels of Divine prophecy. After that there are to
to be wars and desolations for Jerusalem and the Jewish
people. It is the same that our Lord predicted when He
said: "They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall
be led away captive into all nations" (Luke xxi:24).

But all this leaves seven years, that is one week, un-
accounted for. We have up to now 483 weeks, and there are
to be 490 years. The last week of seven years is still future.
The course of the Jewish age was interrupted. It is an
unfinished age. Between the 483 years which ended when
the nation rejected the Lord of glory and the beginning of
the last seven years of the Jewish age, this last year-week
is this present age, the unreckoned period of time during
which God does His great work in sending forth the Gospel
of His Grace to the Gentile nations, to gather out of them
a people for His Name. This age of Grace is still on but
it will end some day when God's purpose is accomplished.
Then the true church will be gathered home to glory and
the I>ord will turn again to His people Israel and the last
week of Daniel will pass into history. During these seven
years the Prince that shall come, the little horn of Daniel vii,
will enter into a covenant with the Jewish people. Not with

THE PROPHET DANIEL 35

all of them, for there is a remnant of godly Jews who will
not accept this one (indicated by the expression "the many"
— see correct translation). In the middle of the week he
breaks that covenant and the result will be the great trib-
ulation, the time, times and half of a time, 1,260 days, 42
months of Daniel vii and Rev. xiii. When this great
tribulation ends the Lord Jesus Christ comes back and the
great things mentioned in verse 24 will be accomplished.

CHAPTER X.
THE PREPARATION FOR THE FINAL PROPHECY.

This chapter contains the preface to the final great pro-
phecies as found in the last two chapters of this book. The
certain man who appeared unto Daniel at the banks of the
river Hiddekel (Tigris) was the Lord. Compare with
Revelation i, where John, the beloved disciple, beheld Him
in a vision of glory. Daniel's vision is a pre-incarnation
vision of the same One whom John beheld after His resur-
rection and in His glorified humanity.

The delayed answer by the angelic messenger is explained
by the power of darkness. A powerful demon-prince, a
Satanic agency, having control over Persia, so that he
claimed the title the prince of Persia, kept back the answer.
Then the prophet was strengthened.

CHAPTER XI.

THE WARS OF THE PTOLEMIES AND SELEUCIDAE PREDICTED,

THE COMING EVENTS OF THE END.

1. The Wars of the Ptolemies and Seleucidae. Verses 1-35.

2. The Time of the End. The Man of Sin. Verses 36-45.

1. The Wars of the Ptolemies and Seleucidae: Verses
1-35. Here we have history prewritten and the greater
part of this chapter (verses 2-35) is fulfilled historically.
So accurate are these predictions and their subsequent ful-
fillment that the enemies of "the Scripture of Truth" have
declared that it could never have been written by Daniel
several hundred years before these persons came into exist-
ence and fought their battles. The pagan Porphyry in the

36 THE PROPHET DANIEL

third century in his "Treatise against Christians" bitterly
attacked the belief that Daniel wrote these predictions.
He argued that all was written after the events had taken
place. The same arguments are used by the critics. Such
is this most subtle infidelity that it can make use of the
statements of a poor heathen in opposition to the divine
revelation.

The prophecies given here were minutely fulfilled during
the years 301 B. C, to 168 B. C. History verifies every-
thing. The history covers a good part of the Persian and
Graeco-Macedonian Empires, but mostly the wars of the
Ptolemies and Seleucidae. Artaxerxes, Darius, Alexander
the Great, Ptolemy Lagris, the King of the South, Ptolemy
Euergetes, Seleucus Calinicus, Ptolemy Philopater, Antiochus
Epiphanes, even the Roman fleet (the ships of Chittim),
all enter into this prophecy. A detailed exposition of the
prophecy and its fulfillment would fill many pages. (See
the Exposition on Daniel pages 168-179).

Before we pass on we desire to say again that all in these
verses we have briefly followed has been historically fulfilled.
We point out a mistake in which some have fallen. In
verse 31 we read of "the abomination that maketh desolate."
Our Lord in His Olivet discourse (Matthew xxiv:15) said:
"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation,
spoken by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place
(whoso readeth let him understand)." Some believe that
when our Lord spoke these words he referred to Daniel xi:
31, and that this is the abomination of desolation. This is
not quite correct. The abomination that maketh desolate
of verse 31 is past and happened in the days of the atrocities
committed by Antiochus Epiphanes. The abomination of
desolation to which our Lord refers is mentioned in chapter
xii:ll, and it points, as we shall find later, to the abomination
set up by the Antichrist, the second beast, in the middle of
the week. The typical meaning of Antiochus Epiphanes
and his crimes in the land of Judea and against Jerusalem
we have already learned in connection with chapter viii.

2. The Time of the End. The Man of Sin: Verses 36-

THE PROPHET DANIEL 37

45. The time of the end is mentioned in verse 35. What is
to befall Daniel's people in the latter days as Daniel was
told in chapter x :4 is now revealed. Between verses 35 and
36 we must put a long and unreckoned period of time. An-
tiochus Epiphanes and the victorious Maccabees end the
historical fulfillment of the predictions of the great proph-
ecies in the first part of this chapter, and since then over
2,000 years have come and gone and the fulfillment of verses
36-45 have not yet been. First we read of a wilful King.
Who is this king so fully pictured in verses 36-45?

Many expositors of Daniel apply this passage to Antiochus
Epiphanes, because they see not the important interval
which exists between verses 35 and 36. However, a closer
examination of the description of this King shows that he
cannot be Antiochus. He is another person altogether, and
as we shall see later, will be a Jew and assume Kingly honors
in the midst of the Jewish people. Antiochus was a Gentile.
Others again identify this King with the first beast in
Revelation xiii, and say that the head of the revived Roman
Empire, one like Napoleon I is meant, while others see here
a reference to the pope in Rome. And whether the head
of the Roman power, or the pope, or perhaps Mohammed,
the term Antichrist is freely applied to each. Those who see
the Papacy here and the Romish corruption make some
startling applications which are extremely fanciful.

The Wilful King is the x\ntichrist. The Jewish people
rejected their King, the Messiah, who came to His own,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord told the Jews: "I am
come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not; if another
shall come in his own name, him ye will receive" (John v:43).
This other one has not yet come. We have his photograph
here. He appears in Israel's land in the time of the end
as a counterfeit Messiah and takes also the place of King
in their midst. This wilful King, the personal Antichrist
who deceives the apostate mass of the Jewish people, is re-
peatedly mentioned in the Old Testament prophetic Word.
Isaiah speaks of him and his end (Isa. xxx:33, lvii:9).
Zechariah calls him "the idol shepherd" (Zech. xi:15-17).

38 THE PROPHET DANIEL

He is repeatedly mentioned in the Psalms as "the wicked
ninn" — "the man of the earth" — "the bloody and deceitful
man." In the Book of Revelation he appears as the second
beast out of the land (Palestine) (Rev. xiii:ll-17). The two
horns like a lamb as he is described there show clearly that
he imitates Christ. He has the spirit of the dragon and
appears as a religious leader, for this reason he is also called
"the false prophet" in the Book of Revelation (chapters
xvi:13, xix:20, xx:10).

In the New Testament he is called in the writings of John
"the Antichrist". (See 1 John ii:18-22, iv:3; 2 John 7).
Another great prophecy of the same person is found in
2 Thess. ii, where he is called "tlie man of sin, the son of
perdition." The early church believed that this evil person
will be a real man, a Jew, and be energized by Satan. That
he is the papal system or something else was invented later.

In verses 40-45 we have a prophecy of the wars and con-
flicts during the time of the end. The false King, Israel's
false Messiah, the Antichrist, plays an important part in
these conflicts. Then there are the kings of the South and
of the North. The king of the South comes out of Egypt.
His antagonist is the king of the North. The king of the
South will be overthrown by the powerful king of the North,
the same who is typified by the Antiochus Epiphanes. (Read
about this invasion in Joel ii and Zechariah xiv.)

While the King of the North and his proud hosts are thus
overthrown by the Army of the Lord, what becomes of the
wilful King, the Antichrist in the City.?^ The King of the
North cannot touch him. But the Lord Himself will deal
with that wicked one. "Whom the Lord shall consume with
the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the bright-
ness of His coming" (2 Thess. ii:8). Thus ends the great
conflict of the time of the end. The eternal abode of the
Satanic instruments of the time of the end, the beast, that
coming Prince, the Antichrist and the King of the North
will be the lake of fire.

THE PROPHET DANIEL 39

CHAPTER XII.
THE GREAT TRIBULATION AND ISRAEL'S DELIVERANCE.

"And at that time." What time? The time of the end,
the time of trouble such as never was before; the same time
to which our Lord refers in Matthew xxiv:21.

Michael, the great prince which standeth for the Jewish
people, is now also mentioned again. He will stand up and
take a leading part in the events of that time. From the
Book of Revelation v/e learn (chapter xii) that there will be
war in heaven, that is where Satan has his dominion now
as the prince of the power of the air. Michael, assisted by
his angels, will cast out the great dragon, the devil and his
angels. They will be forced down to the earth. Then when
Satan and his angels are cast out the great tribulation will
be instituted (Rev. xii:12). Michael will stand up in another
sense and take a definite part in the deliverance of Daniel's
people. It is not fully revealed what that will be.

The deliverance of which we read in these verses and the
awakening of those "who sleep in the dust of the earth"
has likewise been grossly misinterpreted. Because exposi-
tors have not seen the application of all this to the Jews in
their future history in the land, they have read the church
in here, and even what they term a general resurrection
on a general judgment day. But we shall see now what is
meant by the deliverance of Daniel's people.

Physical resurrection (as so often stated: a general resur-
rection) is not taught in the second verse. Physical resur-
rection is used as a figure of the national revival of Israel
in that day. They have been sleeping nationally in the dust
of the earth, buried among the Gentiles. But at that time
there will take place a national restoration, a bringing to-
gether of the house of Judah and of Israel. It is the same
figure as used in the vision of the dry bones in Ezekiel xxxvii.
This vision is employed by the men, who have invented the
theory of a second chance and larger hope for the wicked
dead to back up their evil teaching, but anyone can see that
it concerns not the Gentiles but the Jewish people and that
it is not a bodily resurrection^ but a national revival and

40 THE PROPHET DANIEL

restoration of that people. Their national graves, not literal
burying places, will be opened and the Lord will bring them
forth out of all the countries into which they have been
scattered.

There will be two classes, the godly and the ungodly. The
ungodly accept the false Messiah, and in their national
revival, shame and everlasting contempt awaits them, while
the others, the godly, will enjoy life in the kingdom. The
wise in verse 3 are the Jewish teachers and witnesses in the
endtime, those which compose the godly remnant. A special
reward will be theirs during the kingdom, they shall shine
as the stars forever. The same holds good, only in a higher
sense for all those who are witnesses for Him during this age,
who are faithful to Christ.

Then Daniel is addressed and beholds angels once more,
as well Him who appeared clothed in linen, none other than
the Lord. Then Daniel asked his final question.

Verses 11-12 have puzzled many readers of the book.
Different theories are given.

But what is the meaning of these 1,290 and 1,335 daj's?
Can there be anything plainer than the fact that these 1,290
and 1,335 days are literal days? \Mio authorizes us to make
of these days years? By what process of exposition are we
to arrive at the conclusion that "days" mean "years?" It
is worse than folly to do that.

Now, the great tribulation lasts for 1,260 days. But here
we have 30 days or a whole month added. The Lord will
be manifested at the close of the great tribulation of 1,260
days, 31^2 years. Matthew xxiv:29-31 teaches us this. The
extra month will in all probability be needed to make pos-
sible certain judgment events especially with the overthrow
of the nations which came against Jerusalem and the judg-
ment of nations as given in Matthew xxv:31. We cannot
speak dogmatically on all this. But certain it is that 1,335
days after the Antichristian abomination had been set up
in Jerusalem, that is, 75 days, or lYz months beyond the
time of the great tribulation, the full blessing for Israel and
the establishment of the glorious rule of Israel's King, the

THE PROPHET DANIEL 41

once rejected Lord Jesus Christ, will have come, for it is
written, "Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the
thousand, three hundred and five and thirty days." This
is as far as any teacher can safely go, and here we would rest.

HOSEA

The Prophet Hosea

INTRODUCTION

The Minor Prophets begin with the Book of Hosea. There are
twelve of these books which are called by the name "minor prophets"
not because their contents are of less authority than the preceding
prophetic books, but on account of their size. The Jews considered
them one book and the Talmud says of them, "our fathers made them
one book, that they might not perish on account of their littleness."
The term "minor prophets" was used by the church in early days.
Augustinus states: "The prophet Isaiah is not in the books of the
twelve prophets who are therefore called minor, because their discourses
are brief in comparison with those who are called "greater" because
they composed considerable volumes." Jewish tradition claims that
the present arrangement was made by the great synagogue formed by
Ezra. This arrangement is not chronological. Joel precedes Hosea,
while Hosea, Amos and Jonah were nearly contemporary; Obadiah is
diflBcult to place. The introduction to the book enters into the question
of date. Micah, the Morasthite, ministered between the years 757 and
699 B. C. Nahum, the complement and counterpart of the book of
Jonah, also prophesied during the period of Isaiah. Habakkuk is later
than the preceding prophets. He speaks of the invasion of the land by
the Chaldeans as imminent; his prophetic office was probably exercised
during the second half of Manasseh's reign. Zephaniah prophesied
under the reign of Josiah, between 642 and 611 B. C. Haggai, Zech-
ariah and Malachi are post-exilic.

HOSEA AND HIS TIMES

The first verse of the book determines the period of Hosea. He
prophesied while Uzziah was reigning in Judah and Jeroboam II in
Israel, as well as during the time when Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah
were kings over Judah. His whole prophetic ministry covers probably
over seventy years, so that he must have reached a very old age. His
prophecy is directed almost exclusively to the house of Israel, which had
degenerated in a short time and Hosea lived during these awful years.
Jeroboam II was almost the last king who ruled by the appointment of
the Lord. After him kings made their way to the dottering throne of
Israel by murdering their predecessors. Shallum slew Zechariah;
Menahem slew Shallum; Pekah killed the son of Menahem; Hosea
killed Pekak. All was anarchy in Israel.

The religious conditions were still worse. Nearly all these usurpers
had made alliances with foreign powers which resulted in the in-

46 THE PROPHET HOSEA

troduction of the immoral, corrupt Phoenician and Syrian idolatry.
The first Jeroboam had set up a rival worship so that the people would
not go to Jerusalem to worship in the divinely appointed way. Jer-
oboam had been in Egypt (1 Kings xi:40; xii:2) where he had seen
nature worshipped in the form of a calf. This worship he introduced
in the identical words which their fathers had used when they wor-
shipped the golden calf in the wilderness. (See Exodus xxxii:4 and
1 Kings xii:28). Outwardly the difiFerent ceremonies of the law, the
feasts of Jehovah, the new moons and Sabbath days, the sacrifices and
offerings were maintained, but all was a corrupt worship. The calf
was the immediate object of that idolatrous worship. They sacrificed
to the calf (1 Kings xii:32); they kissed the calf (Hosea xiii:2) and
swore by these idol-calves (Amos viii:4). As Dr. Pusey states: "Calf-
worship paved the way for the coarser and more cruel worship of nature,
under the names of Baal and Ashtaroth, with all their abominations of
consecrated child sacrifices, and horrible sensuality." It led to the
most awful sins and degradation. Here is a description of the moral
conditions prevailing in the days of Hosea, a condition brought about
by the false worship and departure from God. Hosea and Amos
/ acquaint us with it. All was falsehood (Hosea iv:l; vii:l, 3); adultery
(Hosea iv:ll, vii:4, ix:10); bloodshed (Hosea v:2; vi:8); excess and
luxury were supplied by secret or open robbery (Hosea iv:2; x:13;
xi:12; iv:ll; vii:5; vi:4-6; Amosiv:!); oppression (Hosea xii:7; Amos
iii:9-10); false dealing (Hosea xii:7; Amos viii:5); perversion of
justice (Hosea x:5; Amos ii:6, 7); grinding of the poor (Amos ii:7,
viii:6). Adultery was consecrated as an act of worship and religion
(Hosea iv:14). The people, the king and the priests were all steeped
in debauchery. Corruption had spread everywhere; even the places
once sacred through Jehovah's revelation. Bethel, Gilgal, Gilead,
Mizpah, Shechem, were special scenes of vileness and wickedness.
Remonstrance was useless for the knowledge of Jehovah was wilfully
rejected; they hated rebuke. To understand the message of Hosea
and Amos these conditions, both religious and moral, must be fully
understood.

THE MESSAGE OF HOSEA

Like the message of other prophets Hosea's message is one of
I judgment and future mercy. He announced the coming judgment as
certain and irreversible. They were to be led away into captivity.
His sons and daughters born to him by Gomer, the daughter of
Diblaim, expressed this coming judgment in their names which were
given to them by divine direction. "Lo-Ruhamah" — I will have no
mercy; and "Lo-Ammi" — not my people. Then he announced in the
name of the Lord, "I will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to
cease;" "I will have no more mercy upon the house of Israel:" "They

THE PROPHET HOSEA 47

shall be wanderers among the nations;" — "They shall not dwell in the
Lord's land;" — "Israel is swallowed up; she shall be among the nations
like a vessel in which is no pleasure." In the greater portion of his
message there is an exposure of the people's moral condition and their \
impenitent state.

But there is also the message of mercy, which is found in the very
beginning of the book. Here are a few of these comforting words,
which still await their fulfillment in the day when they shall "seek the
Lord their God, and David their King (the Messiah); and shall fear
the Lord and His goodness in the latter days" (iii:5): — "I will betroth
her to me forever;" — "They shall fear the Lord and His goodness;" —
"He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight;" — "Till He come and
rain righteousness upon you;" — "I will ransom them from the power
of the grave, I will redeem them from death;" — "I will heal their back-
sliding;"— "I will be as the dew unto Israel, He shall grow as the lily,
and cast forth its roots as Lebanon."

"It belongs to the mournful solemnity of Hosea's prophecy that he
scarcely speaks to the people in his own person. The ten chapters,
which form the center of the prophecy, are almost wholly one long
dirge of woe, in which the prophet rehearses the guilt and the pun-
ishment of his people. If the people are addressed, it is, with very few
exceptions, God Himself, not the Prophet, Who speaks to them; and
God speaks to them as their judge. Once only does the prophet use
the form so common in other prophets "saith the Lord." As in the
three first chapters, the prophet, in relation to his wife, represented the
relation of God to His people, so, in these ten chapters, after the first
words of the fourth and fifth chapters; — "Hear the word of the Lord,
for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land;" —
"Hear ye this, O priests;' — whenever the prophet uses the first person,
he uses it not of himself, but of God. "I," — "My," — are not Hosea,
and the things of Hosea, but God and what belongs to God. God
addresses the prophet in the second person. In four verses only of
these chapters does the prophet himself apparently address His own
people Israel, in two expostulating with them (ix:l, 5); in two calling
them to repentance (x:12 and xii:6). In two other verses he addresses
Judah, and foretells their judgment mingled with mercy (iv:13). The
last chapter alone is one of almost unmingled brightness; the prophet
calls to repentance, and God in His own person accepts it, and promises
large supply of grace."*

We learn then from the message of this book, what is so largely
written in all the prophets, that their is a glorious future in store for
all Israel. Judah and Israel both will receive the promised blessing

"Dr. Pusey on Hosea.

48 TEE PROPHET HOSEA

and glory in that day when the King comes back, when Ephraim joy-
fully cries out "I have seen Him" (xiv:8).

The conditions in Israel also find their counterpart in our own times.

Christendom has turned its back in greater part upon the true wor-

r ship, rejects the truth, yea the highest and the best God has given, the

I Gospel of Christ, hence the moral decline and apostasy and ere long a

greater judgment than that which fell upon Israel.

THE PROPHET HOSEA 49

The Division of Hosea

Hosea (meaning Salvation) in his style is abrupt and
sententious. As already stated in the introduction he is the
prophet of the ten tribes, though Judah is also mentioned
by him. The book begins with two symbolical actions
commanded by Jehovah, to illustrate Israel's adulterous
condition and Jehovah's enduring love for His people in
spite of their faithlessness. This is followed by a terse
prophecy as to the condition of the people for many days
and their return in the latter days (chapters i-iii).

The main portion of the book begins with the fourth
chapter. This part begins with "Hear the Word of the
Lord." In this section their religious and moral degrada-
tion through the priests and their coming ruin is announced.
Then follows a description of the judgment which was to
come upon Ephraim (the house of Israel) and also upon
Judah. This is beheld by the prophet in a solemn vision
(v:8-15), followed by a brief prophecy as to what will take
place when the remnant of Israel returns unto the Lord
(vi:l-3). Then the Lord reproves them for their incon-
stancy, their immorality, their lewd priests. From chapter
vii to xiii we have similar remonstrances, with renewed an-
nouncements of the judgments on account of their wicked-
ness, idolatries, leagues with heathen nations; the judgment
is to be exile. What is to be their lot is predicted.
This punishment is not to be delayed; it will, however, not
destroy them, but purge them, leaving a remnant. The
last chapter is one of gracious promise of what will take
place in the day of their return. The division of this book
is therefore twofold.

50 THE PROPHET HOSEA

I. THE REJECTION OF ISRAEL AS AN ADULTEROUS
WIFE AND HER FUTURE RECEPTION AND
RESTORATION. Chapters i-iii.

IL THE MESSAGES OF EXPOSTULATION, JUDG-
MENT AND MERCY. Chapters iv-xiv.

There are different subdivisions which will be pointed out
and followed in the analysis and annotations.

The Book of Rosea is quoted a number of times in the
New Testament. See Matt. ii:15, ix:13, xii:7; Rom. ix:25,
26; 1 Cor. xv:55; 1 Peter ii:5, 10.

THE PROPHET HOSEA 51

Analysis and Annotations

I. THE REJECTION OF ISRAEL AS THE ADULTEROUS
WIFE; HER FUTURE RECEPTION AND RES-
TORATION

Chapters i-iii.

CHAPTER I
ISRAEL'S SIN AND PROMISE OF RESTORATION

1. The Introduction. 1.

2. The Prophet's Marriage and Birth of Jezreel. 2-5.

3. The Birth of Lo-Ruhamah. 6-7.

4. The Birth of Lo-Ammi. 8-9.

5. The Future Restoration. 10-11.

1. The Introduction: Verse 1. This superscription gives
the period of Hosea's ministry. First stands the statement
that the word of the Lord came to him. Hosea means sal-
vation; his father's name, Beeri, means "my well." Both
are typical names. Critics have pointed out that Hosea
was undoubtedly a resident of the northern kingdom of
Israel, yet he mentions but one of the kings of Israel, Jero-
boam, while four kings of Judah are given in this introduc-
tion. Inasmuch as Hosea long survived Jeroboam, the king
of Israel, and the Judaic kings extend far beyond the time
of the one Israelitish king, it has been alleged that the
second part of the superscription does not harmonize with
the first. Such is not the case. The superscription is made
in this manner for some purpose. Hosea marks his prophecy
by the names of the kings of Judah, because in Judah the
theocracy remained. He mentions Jeroboam (the Second),
whose reign ended in the fourteenth year of Uzziah, because
he was the last king of Israel through whom God acted and
vouchsafed help to the rival kingdom. All the other kings
of Israel who came after Jeroboam, by whom the Lord sent
deliverance to the ten tribes (2 Kings xiv :27) were therefore

52 THE PROPHET HOSEA

recognized by the prophets of God; the kings which followed
were robbers and murderers, whose names the Spirit of God
finds unfit to mention in the prophetic ministry of Hosea.

2. The Prophet's Marriage and Birth of Jezreel: Verses
2-5. In the beginning of his ministry, when Hosea was a
young man, the Lord commanded him to take unto him a
wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms, and that for
the reason, because the land hath committed great whore-
doms, departing from the Lord. This command was at once
executed by the prophet; he took to wife Gomer, the daugh-
ter of Diblaim.

We are confronted with an interesting question. What is
the nature of these transactions? Were they real events,
that Hosea literally took this woman and had children by
her, or were they nothing but pictorial, visionary illustra-
tions of the spiritual adultery and unfaithfulness of Israel?
Did the prophet actually and literally enter into such an
impure relationship, or, is it wholly an allegory? Luther
supposed that the prophet called his lawful wife and chil-
dren by these names at a certain time to perform a kind
of a drama before the people and thus remind them of their
apostasy. The objectors to the literalness of this incident,
and defenders of the allegorical explanation, have pointed
out that it would be unworthy of God to command and
sanction such an unchaste union. The allegorical meaning
is entirely excluded by the text, which speaks of a literal
transaction. All is related as real history, the marriage and
the birth of the children. We quote first Dr. Pusey's words
in support of the literal meaning of this command by the
Lord.

"We must not imagine things to be unworthy of God,
because they do not commend themselves to us. God does
not dispense with the moral law, because the moral law has
its source in the mind of God Himself. To dispense with it
would mean to contradict Himself. But God, who is abso-
lute Lord of all things which He made, may, at His sovereign
will, dispose of the lives or things which He created. Thus,
as sovereign Judge, He commanded the lives of the Canaan-

TEE PROPHET ROSEA 53

ites to be taken by Israel, as, in His ordinary providence,
He has ordained that the magistrate should not bear the
sword in vain, but has made him His minister, a revenger
to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. So, again. He,
whose are all things, willed to repay to the Israelites their
hard and unjust servitude by commanding them to spoil
the Egyptians. He, who created marriage, commanded to
Hosea whom he should marry. The prophet was not de-
filed by taking as his lawful wife, at God's bidding, one
defiled, however hard a thing this was."*

This is the strongest defense of the literal interpretation
of this incident. But there is another interpretation pos-
sible, which we believe is the correct one. As the context
shows the symbolical meaning of Hosea's marriage is to
illustrate Israel's unfaithfulness. But Israel was not always
unfaithful; she played not always the harlot. Of necessity
this had to be symbolized in the case of the prophet's mar-
riage. The question then arises, was Gomer, the daughter
of Diblaim an impure woman when Hosea married her, or
did she become unchaste after her marriage to the prophet?
We believe the latter was the case. The Hebrew does not
require the meaning that she was impure at the time of the
marriage; in fact, as already indicated, the supposition that
Gomer lived the life of a harlot before her marriage to the
godly prophet, destroys the parallelism, which the prophet's
message embodies, with the relation of God to Israel. The
expression "a wife of whoredoms and children of whore-
doms" simply intimated to Hosea what the woman he mar-
ried was going to be. If not taken in this sense it would
mean that Gomer had already children when Hosea married
her.

Gomer was called "a wife of whoredoms" by the omniscient
Lord, in anticipation of her future conduct. She fell and
became immoral after her union with Hosea, and not before.
In this way she became a symbol of Israel, married unto
the Lord, but afterwards became the unfaithful wife. With

*Pusey on Hosea.

54 TEE PROPHET HOSEA

this view, the entire prophetic message of Hosea in the be-
ginning of this book harmonizes. The name of the woman
is Ukewise suggestive. Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim,
means "Completion — a double cake of figs." Israel's
wickedness is symbolized as complete and the double cake
of figs is symbolical of sensual pleasures. And the prophet
in spite of her unfaithfulness still loved her and did not
abandon her. This illustrates Johovah's love for Israel.

Then she bore him a son. Expositors have stated, "The
children were not the prophet's own, but born of adultery
and presented to him as his." But that can not be the
meaning in view of the plain statement "she conceived and
bare him a son."

The Lord commands him to call this son "Jezreel." Jezreel
has likewise a symbolical meaning. It means "God shall
scatter" (Jer. xxxi:10); but it also means "God shall sow"
(Zech. x:9). Thus Israel was to be scattered and sown
among the nations. Jezreel was the valley in which Jehu
executed his bloody deeds. On account of his hypocritical
zeal, the blood of Jezreel is now to be avenged, and the
kingdom of the house of Israel would cease. Thus the name
Jezreel (resembling in sound and form "Israel") indicates
the speedy end of Israel, scattered and sown among the
nations, on account of their whoredoms (see Ezek. xxiii).

3. The Birth of Lo-ruhamah: Verses 6-7. Next a daugh-
ter is born. Here "bare him" as found in verse 3 is omitted.
The prophet receives a name for her — ^Lo-ruhamah, which
means "not having obtained mercy." Interesting are the
two renderings of the Holy Spirit of this passage in the New
Testament. In Romans ix:25 it is rendered "not beloved"
and in 1 Peter ii:10, "hath not obtained mercy." Love and
mercy were now to be withdrawn from Israel and they were
to be taken away utterly. !

Then the house of Judah is mentioned. They shall be
saved by the Lord their God, because He has mercy on them.
Their salvation was not by bow, by sword, or by battle,
horses and horsemen. It was only a little while later when
the Assyrian, who was God's instrument in the execution

THE PROPHET HOSEA 55

of judgment upon Israel, came before the gates of Jerusa-
lem, but Jerusalem was saved in the manner as predicted
here, not by bow or sword, but the angel of the Lord smote
the army of 185,000 in one night. And later Judah was
saved and a remnant brought back from Babylon. Then
there is a future salvation for Judah in the end of the age.

4. The Birth of Lo-Ammi: Verses 8-9. Another son is
born and "God said. Call his name Lo-Ammi, for ye are
not my people and I am not your God." Lo-Ammi means
"not my people." Lo-Ruhamah and Lo-Ammi are sym-
bolical of Israel's rejection and the withdrawal of God's
mercy. That this is not to be permanent the next two
verses make this clear.

5. The Future Restoration: Verses 10-11. Abruptly we
are transported from the present into the distant future,
and a prophetic utterance of great depth follows. The tenth
verse is quoted by the Holy Spirit in Romans ix and gives
full light on the meaning of the passage here. God's sover-
eignty is the theme of the ninth chapter of Romans: "And
that He might make known the riches of His glory on the
vessels of mercy, which He has afore prepared unto glory,
even us, whom He hath called, not of the Jews only, but also
of the Gentiles. As He saith also in Osee (Greek form of
Hosea), I will call them my people, which were not my
people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it
shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto
them. Ye are not my people, there shall they be called the
children of the living God" (Rom. ix:23-26). Here is the
commentary to Hosea i:10. It means first that Israel shall
be reinstated; but it also means the call and salvation of
the Gentiles, and Gentiles called in sovereign grace are to
be constituted "the sons of the living God." It is a pro-
phetic hint on the blessing to come to the Gentiles, and that
blessing is greater than Israel's.

The eleventh verse is a great prophecy and remains still
unfulfilled. Some expositors claim that it was fulfilled in the
return of the remnant of Jews under Zerubbabel. But the
Babylonian captivity is not in view here at all. The great

56 THE PROPHET HOSEA

day of Jezreel will come, when King Messiah, our Lord
returns. Then shall Judah and Israel be gathered together
under one head, and gather once more to their national
feasts in the land.

CHAPTER II

APPEAL AND PUNISHMENT FOR UNFAITHFULNESS
THE RESUMED RELATIONSHIP

1. The Appeal and Complaint. 1-5.

2. The Punishment for Unfaithfulness. 6-13.

3. The Resumed Relationship and its Great Blessing. 14-23.

1. The Appeal and the Complaint: Verses 1-5. Who is

addressed in the first verse of this chapter? Some think the
children of the prophet are meant. The godly in Israel, those
who obtained mercy, are addressed, for the Lord acknowl-
edges such still as "Ammi" — my people. The godly are to
plead with the rest of Israel their mother, but who is dis-
owned by Jehovah as the wife, on account of her adulterous
conduct. Then the Lord threatens her with severe punish-
ment because of her unfaithfulness. She is to be stripped
naked and be as in the day she was born (see Ezek. xvi:4).
Nor would there be mercy for her children because the
mother, Israel, continued to go after her lovers.

2. The Punishment for Unfaithfulness: Verses 6-13. Her
way is to be hedged up with thorns; a wall of separation is
to be raised and to keep her from her lovers. And if she
follow after them and make a sinful alliance with them (sym-
bolical of the idol worship of heathens which Israel practised)
she would not find them. Thus she might return to her
first husband, to Jehovah. Israel had received from the
Lord corn, wine, oil, silver and gold. Then they attributed
it all to Baal and used it in idol worship. In verses 9-13
the punishment is fully made known. She is to be left alone;
the gifts and blessings will be withdrawn; her lewdness is to
be uncovered, all mirth will cease and the days of Baalim,
spent in licentious worship, would be visited upon herin
judgment.

THE PROPHET HOSEA 57

3. The Resumed Relationship and its Great Blessing:
Verses 14-23. Immediately after the announcement of her
punishment follows the assurance of future mercy. Israel's
conversion is promised (verses 14-17) and the great mercies
of Jehovah's covenant are to be renewed (verses 18-23).
The Lord of Love will not forever abandon His people and
though Israel has played the harlot so long, with no willing-
ness to return unto Him, He Himself in infinite love is going
to woo her back. He will allure her, as He brings her into
the wilderness, and there speak "to her heart" (the Hebrew
meaning). That will be in the coming day when the Lord
will remember the remnant of His people during the
time of Jacob's trouble and save them in that day. Then
she will get her vineyards, her place of blessing, promised
to Israel as His earthly people. The valley of Achor shall
be the door of hope. In that valley Achan died, on account
of whom all Israel had fallen under the ban (Josh. vii).
There judgment had been enacted and after that blessing
was restored to Israel and the ban was removed. Achor
means "troubling." When Israel is in that great trouble,
the great tribulation, the valley of trouble will become the
door of hope, for then the Lord will forgive them their sins,
cover them with His grace and redeem them by His power.
Then the singing times begin again for Israel. "She shall
sing there as in the days of her youth, and as in the day
when she came up out of the land of Egypt." Songs of
praise on account of accomplished redemption by Jehovah's
power will then burst forth (Exod. xv; Isa. xii). She will
be fully restored to her former relationship, typified by mar-
riage. "It shall be in that day, saith the Lord, that Thou
shalt call Me Ishi (my husband), and shalt call Me no more
Baali (my master). She will be re-married to the Lord,
symbolically speaking, and become the earthly wife of
Jehovah, while the church, the espoused virgin, becomes in
glory the Lamb's wife (Rev. xix:6-8).

But greater blessing will be connected with that coming
day of blessing, when Israel is received back (Rom. xi:15).
Verse 18 tells us that creation will then be blest; the time

58 THE PROPHET HOSEA

of its deliverance has come. Here the same is indicated
as in Isaiah xi:6-7 and Romans viii:21. The end of wars
comes then and miiversal peace blesses the "whole earth.
This is always the order in the divine forecasts. First, Israel
has to be brought back, and after that the blessings for the
earth and the nations, including that peace, which the
blinded world-church tries to secure without the Lord Jesus
Christ. All these promises as to the future of Israel, her
restoration and spiritual blessings, are unrealized. "It is
infatuation to think that all this was fully accomplished in
the return of a remnant from the captivity. The result is
that even Christians, misled by this miserable error, are
drawn away into the rationalistic impiety of counting God's
Word here mere hyperbole to heighten the effect, as if the
Holy Spirit deigned to be a verbal trickster, or a prophet
were as vain as a litterateur. No; it is a brighter day, when
the power of God will make a complete clearance from the
world of disorder, misrule, man's violence and corruption,
as well as reduce to harmless and happy resubjection the
entire animal kingdom."

In that day all the great covenant blessings will return
to redeemed Israel. Betrothed again to Jehovah in right-
eousness, in judgment, in faithfulness and mercies, Israel
will know Jehovah. There will be an uninterrupted line of
blessing from the heavens down to every earthly blessing.
Heavens and earth will be gloriously united, and in answer
to the call of His people the heavens will hear and cover all
with blessing, for Satan's power is now gone. Israel is no
more Lo-Ammi, but they will be "His people" and
He will be "their God," while the redeemed nation itself will
be a blessing in the earth.

CHAPTER III
ISRAEL'S PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

1. The Past. 1-3.

2. The Present. 4.

3. The Future. 5.

THE PROPHET HOSEA 59

1. The Past: Verses 1-3. The command here is not that
the Prophet should enter into relation with another woman,
but it concerns the same Gomer, the unfaithful wife. It
seems she left the Prophet and lived in adultery with another
man. "And Jehovah said unto me, Go again, love a wife,
who is beloved of her friend and who is an adulteress; just
as Jehovah loves the children of Israel, who have turned
towards other gods, and love raisin cakes"* (correct trans-
lation). She is not called "thy wife," simply "a wife"; yet
the Prophet is told to love the adulterous wife. This woman,
whom the Lord commands Hosea to love, he had loved
before her fall; he was now to love her after her fall, and
while in that condition, in order to save her from abiding
in it. It was for her sake that she might be won back to
him. Such is the love of Jehovah for Israel.

He bought the adulteress for half of the price of a com-
mon slave (see Exod. xxi:32); it denotes her worthlessness.
The measure of barley mentioned reminds of the offering
of one accused of adultery, and, being the food of animals,
shows her degradation likewise. He thus was to buy her
back, not to live with him as his wife, but that she might
sit as a widow, not running after others, but wait for him
during an undefined, but long season, until he would come
and take her to himself. While she was not to belong to
another man, he, her legitimate husband, would be her
guardian. Israel's spiritual adultery is in view in all this.

2. The Present: Verse 4. Here we have direct proph-
ecy, a very remarkable one, as to Israel's present condition.
It is to be their state for "many days." These "many days,"
unreckoned, are the days of this present age, in which Israel
is in the predicted condition, while God visits the Gentiles,
to gather through the preaching of the Gospel a people for
His Name, that is, the church. Their condition is to be
threefold: Without a civil polity, without king or prince;
without the appointed Levitical worship, no sacrifice; with-
out the practice of idolatry, to which they had been given,

"Used in the idolatrous worship.

60 THE PROPHET HOSEA

without image, ephod and teraphim — the distinctly priestly
garment, the ephod; the teraphim, the tutelary divinities,
which they used before the captivity. Before the captivity
they had kings; now they have none, would have none; after
the captivity Judah, had princes; no princes during the
"many days." The real approach to God according to the
Levitical service was to cease, for during the "many days"
there would be no sacrifice. This has been Israel's condi-
tion for nineteen hundred years. What a wonderful fore-
cast of the present we have here! Clearly then, this de-
scribes the present condition of Israel — the most anom-
alous spectacle the world has ever seen — a people who go on
generation after generation without any of those things
which are supposed to be essential for keeping a people in
existence. They have lost their king, their prince; they
have neither the true worship nor the worship of idols. They
are unable to present a sacrifice, because they have no
temple and no more priesthood. Here is an evidence of
the supernaturalness of the Bible, one which no Jew nor
destructive critic can deny.

3. The Future: Verse 5. Afterward — in the latter days.
These two statements open and end the prophecy concern-
ing their future. The "afterward" is not yet; the latter
days are still to come. Their future is returning and seek-
ing the Lord, their God and David their king. This is
Christ. Nearly all the rabbinical writers and expositors
explain it in this way. David himself this could not be. It
is He who is David's Son and David's Lord, our Lord (see
Ezek. XXX :23, 24). Here we have the prediction of the future
conversion of Israel to the Lord, in the latter days, the days
of His coming again.*

*The Targum of Jonathan says on Hosea iii:5: "This is the King
Messiah; whether he be from among the living or from the dead. His
name is Messiah. The same explanation is given by the mystical books
Zohar, Midrash Shemuel and Tanchuma. The greatest authorities
among the Jews are one in declaring that "the last days" mean the days
of the Messiah; we have reference to Kimchi, Abarbanel, Moses Ben
Nacham and many others.

THE PROPHET HOSEA 61

II. THE MESSAGE OF EXPOSTULATION JUDG-
MENT AND MERCY

Chapters iv-xiv

CHAPTER IV

THE LORD'S CONTROVERSY WITH HIS PEOPLE

1. The Condition of the People. 1-5.

2. The Loss of Their Priestly Relation. 6-11.

3. Israel's Idolatry. 12-19.

1. The Condition of the People: Verses 1-5. This chap-
ter begins with a terse description of the condition of the
professing people of God. First, we have the negative
side — ^no truth, no mercy, no knowledge of God. And there
was no truth, because they had rejected the Word of the
Lord, hence the result no mercy and no knowledge of God.
It is so still whenever and wherever the Word of God is set
aside. Then follows the positive evil which was so prominent
in their midst: Swearing, lying, killing, stealing, commit-
ting adultery, and abundant shedding of blood. Such was
the continued moral condition of the house of Israel, the
ten tribes. It was all the result of having rejected the Word
of the Lord and having turned away from Him. The result
of unbelief, destructive criticism and denial of the truth is
today, as it was then, swearing, lying, stealing, killing and
the immoralities of our times. Therefore judgment would
overtake all, even the land itself.

2. The Loss of Their Priestly Relation: Verses 6-11.
The people were destroyed for lack of knowledge, the know-
ledge of God and His truth. They had lost their place of
nearness to the Lord, their priestly character into which
the Lord had called the nation (Exod. xix). Therefore they
would be rejected to be no longer in priestly relationship to
Jehovah. And the priestly class was as corrupt as the
people — "like people like priests." They were to be pun-
ished for their ways and their doings.

3. Israel's Idolatry: Verses 12-19. Having left Jehovah
they had turned to idols, asked counsel of a piece of wood

62 THE PROPHET HOSEA

and practised divination. This abominable idol worship
was practised upon the tops of mountains. There, under
trees, they gave themselves over to the vile rites of Baal-
peor and Ashtaroth, both men and women abandoned them-
selves to the grossest sins of the flesh. And the Lord
threatens that He would leave them alone in their vileness
and not correct them, that they might be brought back.
The first chapter of Romans is illustrated by verse 14; they
glorified not God, became idolators and then God gave them
up to their vile affections.

Then there is a warning to the house of Judah in verse
15. The most sacred places, like Gilgal, had become the
scene of the idolatry of the ten tribes. Bethel, the house of
God, became a Beth-aven, the house of vanity. If Judah
offended and committed the same whoredoms, she would
not escape judgment. The warning was unheeded.

"Ephraim (the ten tribes) is joined to idols; let him alone."
Ephraim was too far gone; further remonstrances would
not help, and so the evil is permitted to go unchecked, to
run its full course.

CHAPTER V— VI:3

THE MESSAGE TO THE PRIESTS, THE PEOPLE AND THE

ROYAL HOUSE. JUDGMENT, AFFLICTION AND THE

FUTURE RETURN

1. The Message of Rebuke. 1-7.

2. The Judgment Announced. 8-15.

3 The Future Return and the Blessing. vI:I-3.

1. The Message of Rebuke: Verses 1-7. The first verse
shows who is addressed: the Priests, the house of Israel
and the house of the King. Judgment was in store for them,
for Mizpah and Tabor, the places of hallowed memory, had
been turned by their idolatrous worship into a snare. An
old and interesting tradition among the Jews states that at
Mizpah the apostates waited for those Israelites who went
up to Jerusalem to worship there, to murder them. The
next verse seems to indicate something like this tradition.

THE PROPHET HOSEA 63

"And the apostates make slaughter deep; but I am a chas-
tisement to them all"* (see also chapter vi:9). And the
Lord saw it all. "I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid
from Me." He knew the whoredoms of Ephraim and the
defilement of Israel. Their evil deeds kept them from re-
turning to their God, for the demon of whoredoms had taken
complete possession of them and it kept them in sin and
rebellion. Pride was the leading sin of Ephraim, it was to
testify against them and both Israel and Ephraim would
stumble on account of their guilt and Judah would share
the same fate. And though they go with their flocks of
sheep and their herds, willing and ready to sacrifice, they
shall not be able to find Him, for He hath withdrawn Him-
self.

2. The Judgment Announced: Verses 8-15. Then fol-
lows a vision of judgment. The judgment is seen as having
already fallen upon the guilty nation. The horn (Shophar)
is blown in Gibeah and the trumpet in Ramah; the alarm
is sounded. Gibeah and Ramah were situated on the
northern boundary of Benjamin. The enemy was behind
Benjamin pursuing. There will be no remedy and no escape
(verse 9). "The princes of Judah have become, like the
removers of landmarks: I will pour out upon them my
wrath like water" (verse 10). A curse is pronounced in the
law upon those who remove the landmarks (Deut. xxvii:17).
Judah instead of taking warning from the disaster coming
upon the northern kingdom, the ten tribes, sought gain by
an enlargement of their own border. The princes of Judah,
instead of weeping over the calamity, rejoiced at the removal
of Israel as the means of removing the boundary line and
increase their estate. Wrath was in store for Judah. To
Ephraim the Lord would be as a moth. To the house of
Judah He would be as rottenness. The moth destroys.
Both terms, moth and rottenness, are symbols of destroying
influences working against the house of Israel and the house

*We give the passage we quote in a better and more literal rendering.
The authorized version is frequently incorrect.

64 TEE PROPHET ROSEA

of Judah (see Isa. 1:9, li:8; Psalm xxxix:ll; Job xiii:28).
Then they turned to the Assyrian for help and to King
Jareb. But there was no help. Jareb is not a proper name,
it is an epithet applied to the king of Assyria and means
"He will contend" or "He will plead the cause." Like a
lion would be the Lord to Israel, and like a young lion to
Judah. The same symbolical language is used in Isaiah in
connection with the Assyrian, the rod of God's anger (Isa.
x). "Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like
young lions; yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey,
and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it"
(Isa. v:29). Thus judgment came upon them and they
were carried away as a prey. And like the lion after his
attack withdraws to his den, so the Lord would withdraw
from them, leave them and return to His place, waiting till
their repentance comes and they seek Him early in their
affliction.

The last verse of this chapter has a wider meaning than
the past judgment which came upon the house of Israel.
The Lord of glory came to earth and visited His people. He
came with the message and offer of the kingdom to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. He came unto His own, but
His own received Him not. After they had rejected Him,
delivered Him into the hands of the Gentiles to be crucified.
He returned to His place. There He is now at the right hand
of God, waiting for that day, when the remnant of Israel
will repent and seek His face (see Acts iii:19-20). That
will be in their coming great affliction, in the time of Jacob's
trouble.

3. The Future Return and the Blessing: Chapter vi:l-3.
The division of the chapter at this point is unfortunate.
The three verses of chapter vi must not be detached from
the previous chapter. Here we have the future repentance
of the remnant of Israel, that is during the great tribulation.
Believingly they will acknowledge His righteous judgment
and express their faith and hope in His mercy and the
promised blessings and restoration. They express what
their great prophet Moses so beautifully stated in His

TEE PROPHET HOSEA 65

prophetic song, that great vision given to him, ere he went
to the mountain to die. "See now that I, even I, am He
and there is no god with Me; I kill, and I make alive; I
wound, and I heal; neither is there any that can deliver
out of My hand" (Deut. xxxii:29). "After two days will He
revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall
live in His sight (literally, before His face)." They have
been dead spiritually and nationally, but when the two
days of their blindness and dispersion are over, there is
coming for them the third day of life and resurrection.
Jewish expositors have pointed out the fact that a day is
with the Lord as a thousand years. They state that they
will be in dispersion for two days, that is, two thousand
years, after which comes the third day of Israel's glorious
restoration. One Rabbinical commentator says: "The first
day we were without life in the Babylonian captivity, and
the second day, which will also end, is the great captivity
in which we are now, and the third day is the great day
of our restoration." Like Jonah was given up by the fish
on the third day, so comes for Israel a third day of life and
glory. Then the latter and the former rain will fall upon
their land again, and, blest by Him, their Saviour-King,
they will live in His sight. But the passage, no doubt, also
points to the resurrection of our Lord, the true Israel in a
hidden way.

CHAPTER VI:4-11
DIVINE MOURNING OVER EPHRAIM AND JUDAH

1. What Shall I do to Thee? 4-6.

2. Their Transgression. 7-11.

L What Shall I do to Thee? Verses 4-6. The Lord
grieves and mourns over the condition of the people whom
He loves. After the brief glimpse given of their great future
of glory we are brought back into the days of Moses. The
Lord grieves and mourns over His people whom He loves,
who today are still beloved for the Father's sake (Rom.
ix). But while He loved them, their love was like the morn-

66 THE PROPHET HOSEA

ing cloud, like the dew, vanishing soon away. The morn-
ing cloud looks beautiful, gilded by the rays of the rising
sun, but it quickly disappears through the heat of the sun;
the dew glitters in the early morning, but soon it is gone.
Thus was their love, fluctuating and changing. How often
is the love of His heavenly people like the morning cloud
and the dew! Thank God that His love never changes! The
Prophets He had sent to them came, therefore, with words
of condemnation, instead of words of comfort and cheer.
They came to hew, as stone or wood is hewn, and the mes-
sage of judgment they proclaimed condemned them; this
is the meaning of the sentence, "I have slain them by the
words of my mouth."

2. Their Transgression: Verses 7-11. "Yet they like
Adam have transgressed the covenant; they have dealt
treacherously against Me." As God had made known His
covenr at to Adam, given him a commandment, so He had
made a covenant with them and made known unto them
His will. Like Adam they had transgressed the covenant.
Adam had been called into relationship with His Creator
and a place of blessing and favor in Eden had been given
to him. He transgressed, and after his fall he was driven
out. This happened to Israel. Called of God, who entered
with them into a covenant and gave them the land of
promise, but when they transgressed, like Adam, they were
also driven out.* Iniquity and blood was everywhere. Even
the priests lurked as a band of robbers and murdered the
travelers on the way to Shechem, one of the cities of refuge, f

*Attentioii has been called to an important distinction. Man is
called a sinner. The Gentiles as such are never called transgressors.
We read in the New Testament of sinners of the Gentiles, but never
'transgressors" of the Gentiles. Adam was under a law, which he
broke and by it he became a transgressor. Israel was under the law,
which they broke and became transgressors. But no covenant existed
with the Gentiles, nor had they the law given to them; hence while
they are lost sinners, they are not called transgressors in the sense in
which the covenant people are called transgressors.

fNote correct translation: "Upon the way they murder (those who
go) to Shechem" (verse 9).

THE PROPHET HOSEA 67

The horrible thing was that Israel was steeped in whore-
doms; they were not only spiritually adulterers, but follow-
ing the idol worship they lived in literal harlotry and lewd-
ness. Judah, too, would get a harvest. But the final sen-
tence of this chapter, "When I return the captivity of My
people," is a prophecy, not concerning the return from
Babylon, but that other great restoration which is yet to
come. Looked upon in this light the entire verse is pro-
phetic. "For thee, also, Judah a harvest waits, when I
shall turn the captivity of My people." When God restores
His people in His promised covenant mercies then Judah
will be visited by judgment as it will be in the end of this age.

CHAPTER Vn
THE MORAL DEPRAVITY OF ISRAEL

1. Their Moral Depravity. 1-7.

2. Mingling With Heathen Nations. 8-16.

1. Their Moral Depravity: Verses 1-7. All the gracious
efforts of the Lord to heal Israel resulted in a greater mani-
festation of the iniquity of Ephraim. Instead of turning
to Him in true repentance and self -judgment their evil heart
turned away from Jehovah, and they continued in their
downward course. They did not consider that the Lord
would remember all their evil deeds and punish them for
it. The king and the princes, the political heads were as
corrupt as the priests, they were pleased with the impeni-
tence and wickedness of their subjects. Then follows a
graphic description of their moral depravity. They were
adulterers, burning with lust, "like an oven heated by the
baker, who rests, stirring up (the fire), after he has kneaded
the dough until it be leavened." They indulged in all the
vile, obscene practices connected with the idol worship of
the heathen about them. They were also drunkards and
were heated with wine as they were with lust. They made
their heart like an oven; their baker (meaning their own
evil will and imagination) slept all night, but, awakening

68 THE PROPHET HOSEA

in the morning, their lust is stirred up again. Nor did any-
one call upon the name of the Lord.

Such was the moral depravity of a people with whom the
Lord had entered into covenant, the favored nation. The
source of it was unbelief and the rejection of His Word. The
sad history of Israel is repeated in professing Christendom
today.

2. Mingling with Heathen Nations: Verses 8-16. The
Lord called Israel to be a separated nation, but Ephraim
mingled with the heathen (not, people) and is compared to
a cake not turned. They adopted heathen ways, heathen
manners and heathen vices. Like an unturned cake, which
is black and burnt on the one side, while above it is un-
baked, such was Ephraim's condition. Such a cake was fit
for nothing; it had to be thrown away. The strangers with
whom they mingled devoured their strength, nor did they
not notice the signs of their speedy national decay. This is
the meaning of the statement, "Gray hairs are here and
there upon him, and he does not know it." Furthermore,
Ephraim is likened to a silly dove without understanding.
Instead of flying back to Jehovah their help and rest, they
fluttered, like a moth around the flame, around Egypt and
Assyria, trying to find deliverance there. But while flutter-
ing from Egypt to Assyria and from Assyria to Egypt, they
did not see the net which was spread for their destruction
— that net was Assyria itself. In this net the Lord caught
them; their freedom would be ended and captivity begin.
Then follows the divine Woe. "Woe unto them! for they
have wandered from Me. Destruction upon them, that
they have transgressed against Me!" The divine lament
cried after them, "I would have redeemed them, but they
spoke lies against Me." While they may have cried with
their mouth, their heart did not. They were like a deceit-
ful bow on which the archer cannot depend, so the Lord
could not depend upon Israel. God had, to apply the sym-
bol, bent Israel as His own bow against evil and idolatry,
but they turned themselves against Him.

THE PROPHET HOSEA 69

CHAPTER VIII— IX :9
THE APOSTASY IS FOLLOWED BY JUDGMENT

1. The Judgment Announced. 1-7.

2. The Apostasy Which Resulted in Judgment. 8-14.

3. Warning Against Self-Security. Chapter ix:l-9.

1. The Judgment Announced: Verses 1-7. The Prophet
is commanded to sound the alarm of the impending judg-
ment. The message is that the enemy will come swift as an
eagle upon house of the Lord, which here does not mean
the temple (which was in connection with Judah), but Israel
as the chosen people was the house, the dwelling-place of
the Lord. All their spurious profession, their false claim,
"My God, we know Thee, we, Israel," will go for nothing,
because they transgressed the covenant and the law.
The obnoxious thing they did is stated in verse 4. They
had separated themselves from Judah and chosen their own
kings and princes in self-will, thus putting themselves out-
side of the theocracy; idolatry speedily followed. In Bethel
they had erected the worship of the calf, the great abomina-
tion in the sight of the Lord. He rejects their corrupt wor-
ship, and ere long the calf of Samaria will be broken to
pieces, like the golden calf their fathers made in the wilder-
ness. They sowed the wind and the whirlwind would be
the harvest (see chapter x:13, xii:2; Job iv:8; Prov. xxii:8).
They sowed vanity and evil; the tempest of destruction
would be their reaping. What they sowed would not yield
fruit at all. The Hebrew contains a play of words, " Tsemach
brings no Quemach,'' which may be rendered, "shoot brings
no fruit."

2. The Apostasy which Resulted in Judgment: Verses
8-14. Israel had been swallowed up by the nations, that is,
by mingling with them. By their doings they have become
like a despised vessel. Their sin was going up to Assyria,
like a wild ass, suing there for love and favor. They were
like a stubborn brute going there by itself. Ephraim was
even worse than the stubborn ass. They formed unnatural
alliances with the Gentiles. There they gave presents, hir-

70 TEE PROPHET ROSEA

ing lovers, literally rendered, "Ephralm gave presents of
love" to practice her whoredoms. They forgot their Creator,
God; their sacrifices Jehovah despised. Therefore the
judgment.

3. Warning Against Self-Security: Chapter ix.l -9. Under
the reign of Jeroboam II Israei enjoyed great prosperity. It
seems they had a bountiful harvest, corn and wine was in
abundance. They gave themselves over to feasting and
rejoicing. It was at such an occasion when the Lord sent
this warning against their own security. Their captivity is
announced where they would eat things unclean and feast
days will no longer be possible. Then the Prophet beholds
them as already in the Assyrian captivity. They went away
and turned towards the South to escape the sure destruc-
tion. But "Egypt will gather them, Memphis will bury
them." Their precious things of silver will give way to thistles
and thorns. The day of visitation was at hand; their in-
iquities are remembered and their sins will be visited.

CHAPTER IX:10-XI:11
RETROSPECT. ISRAEL'S FAILURE AND RUIN

1. Israel Once Beloved Now Fugitive Wanderers. 10-17.

2. Their Guilt and Punishment. Chapter x:l-ll.

3. Exhortation and Rebuke. 12-15.

4. The Mercy of a Merciful God. Chapter xi:l-ll.

1. Israel Once Beloved, but Wanderers Now: Verses
10-17. Like a wayfaring man who finds grapes and figs in
the desert and delights in them, so the Lord found Israel
in the desert and they were His pleasure when He led them
out of Egypt. But they requited His love by going after
Baal-Peor, one of the filthiest gods of heathendom. To this
they consecrated themselves and practice their vile abomina-
tions. Therefore the glory which He had given to His
people will fly away like a bird and their licentious worship
of unnatural vices would avenge itself so that there would
be no pregnancy and no birth; the promised increase would
stop. It seems verses 14-17 are an outburst of the Prophet.

THE PROPHET HOSEA 71

How literally the sentence has been fulfilled. "They will be
wanderers."

2. Their Guilt and Punishment: Chapter x:l-ll. Here
is another retrospect, Israel once called to be a thriving vine
(not empty), called to be fruitful; but Israel did not bring
forth the expected fruit. As the nation abounded and pros-
pered they increased their idol altars; as the land yielded
its increase in the same measure they made their images.
Their heart was smooth, or deceitful, for this they will now
have to suffer. "Their heart is smooth; now will they make
expiation." They will have no more king. The smooth or
deceitful heart is described in verse 4, while in the verse
which follows the judgment upon their calves they wor-
shipped is announced. It, the calf, will be carried to Assyria
to be made a present of to the king. The high places will
be destroyed and thorns and thistles will overgrow its altars.
Then they will say to the mountains, "Cover us!" and to
the hills, "Fall upon us!" Well, it is to read in connection
v,ith this prophetic statement what our Lord said about
the judgment of Jerusalem in Luke xxiii:30 and what is
written in connection with the breaking of the sixth seal in
Revelation vi:16.

Gibeah is mentioned (verse 9). The corruption of Gibeah
is also noted in chapter ix:9. The horrible abomination of
Gibeah is recorded in Judges xix in consequence of which
the tribe of Benjamin was almost wiped out. And the
people had become as wicked and guilty as Benjamin at
Gibeah. The nations are now to be used to punish Israel.
"And the nations will gather themselves against them, when
I bind them for their offences" (verse 10, literal translation).

3. Exhortation and Rebuke: Verses 12-15. Here is a
break in the judgment message. If they would return to
the Lord and would sow righteousness, they would reap
mercy. But such sowing is impossible unless the fallow
ground is broken up, that is, true repentance and a heart
return unto the Lord. "For it is time to seek the Lord,
until He come and rain righteousness upon you." In what
infinite patience He waited for the repentance of His people!

72 THE PROPHET HOSEA

But while He would save them, they would not! Still God's
gifts and calling are without repentance and the day will
come when a remnant of Israel will seek the Lord; then He
will come and rain righteousness upon them.

How different was their condition! The Lord rebukes
them, for they had ploughed wickedness, and reaped ini-
quity. The noise of war is now heard; Shalman (a con-
tracted form of Shalmanezer, the King of Assyria) is ad-
vancing and shall destroy all their fortresses as he destroyed
Beth-arbel. (There is no further record of Beth-arbel and
its destruction.) And who was responsible for all this havoc
and the impending calamity? "Thus has Bethel done to
you, for the evil of your great evil. In the early morning the
king of Israel shall be utterly cut off." Bethel was the seat
of Israel's idolatry, it drew God's wrath and finally ended
the monarchy in Israel and their national existence.

4. The Mercy of a Merciful God: Chapter xi:l-ll. This
chapter starts with a beautiful allusion to Israel's youth,
when in sovereign love He called Israel, His firstborn Son,
out of Egypt, redeeming them by blood and power (Exod.
iv:22-23). But this passage is quoted in the second chap-
ter of the Gospel of Matthew: "That it might be fulfilled
which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying. Out
of Egypt have I called My Son" (Matt, ii :15) . The blending
together of Israel and Christ is very interesting. Christ is
the true Israel and goes through the entire history of the
nation, without failure and in divine perfection. He was
carried as an infant into the land where Israel suffered in
the fiery furnace; and finally He died for that nation and
in some future day through Him, the true Israel (called such
in Isa. Ixix), Israel's great future and glory will come to pass.

But while the Son of God, the true Israel, was perfect and
holy in all His ways, Israel was unfaithful. This record of
Jehovah's faithfulness and mercy is here unfolded. He sent
them prophets who called them, but they turned away from
Him and gave themselves over to the Baalim and the idol-
gods. How loving He had been to them! He led them,
took them into His arms and healed them. He drew them

THE PROPHET HOSEA 73

with cords of love and was towards them "as those that
would raise the yoke-strap over their jaws, and I reached
out to them to eat" (verse 4). It is a beautiful picture of
His great gentleness with them. Perhaps some of them were
anxious to turn to Egypt and find a home there and thus
escape the cruel Assyrian. But the Lord declares that they
shall not return to Egypt, but Assyria is to be their king,
because they refused to return. The sword of judgment
would do its work completely (verses 6-7). Then follows a
most wonderful outburst of deepest sorrow over the stubborn
nation :

"How should I give you up, Ephraim?
How shall I surrender thee, Israel?
How should I make thee Like Admah?
Or set thee like Zeboim?
My heart is turned within me;
My repentings are kindled together."

It is the same Lord who speaks here, who centuries later
stood before the city and broke out in loud weeping when
He beheld the city: "If thou hadst known, even thou, at
least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy
peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes" (Luke xix:42).
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and
stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I
have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth
her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold
your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you,
ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say. Blessed is
He that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Matt. xxiii:37).
How He loves His people! And though He has punished
them, He does not forsake them; He will not be angry for-
ever; He is a covenant keeping God, "For I am God and
not man" (verse 9). "For I am the Lord, I change not;
therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed" (Mai. iii:6).
And so here, this chapter of Jehovah's mercy ends with the
assurance of their future restoration and blessing. "They
will follow the Lord." That will be "when like a lion He

74 THE PROPHET HOSEA

roars." That is the day when He appears again as "The
lion of the tribe of Judah." Then, in that day, like a bird
from Egypt they will hasten back and like a dove from
Assyria. "Then will I make them dwell in their houses,
saith the Lord." Here is another prophecy of their restora-
tion to their own, God-given home land.

CHAPTER XI:12-Xn
THE INDICTMENT

1. Ephraim's Indictment. Chapter xi:12-xii:2.

2. Remembrance of the Past. 3-6.

3. What Israel Had Become. 7-14.

1. Ephraim's Indictment: Chapter xi:12-xii. 2. Lying and
deceit had been Ephraim's course towards Jehovah; instead
of trusting Him and following Him faithfully they had
attached themselves to idols, while Judah stiU outwardly
cleaved to Jehovah, though it was in a rambling way. The
word translated "ruleth" means rambling. The better
rendering of the sentence is "and Judah is also rambling
towards God (or unbridled against Him) and towards the
faithful Holy One." But while outwardly Judah seemed
to be all right, Ephraim fed on wind, was occupied with the
vain, the empty things, increased in lies and desolation and
turned to Assyria and Egypt for help, sending as a present
olive oil to the latter and making a covenant with the former
(see 2 Kings xvii:4). Then the mask is torn from Judah 's
face. The Lord had a controversey with them also and
would repay them according to their evil deeds.

2. Remembrance of the Past: Verses 3-6. Jacob's sons
are now reminded of Jacob*s experience. Though he was
so weak and sinful yet the Lord in marvellous grace met him.
The experience at Peniel is recalled. "Yea, he had power
over the angel, and prevailed; he wept and made supplica-
tion unto Him." There he learned the sufficiency of grace
and his strength was made perfect in wealoiess. The angel
who appeared unto him that night was none other than the
Son of God. What a reminder it was to them. "He found

THE PROPHET HOSEA 76

him (Jacob) in Bethel!" In the very place where the Lord
found Jacob and Jacob found the Lord, they had set up
their awful, God-defying idol worship. Where God had
shown such mercy there they practised now their abomina-
tions. Jehovah, the God of hosts, was still the same. He
is the Lord who changes not. He was waiting still for their
return. To such a God, who keeps His covenant promises
they were urged to return and prove their true return by
keeping mercy and justice and by waiting on Jehovah con-
tinually. But the call of grace and mercy was unheeded.

3. What Israel Had Become: Verses 7-14. The Lord
calls apostate Israel a merchant, that is in Hebrew "Canaan"
(Canaan means traffic; see Ezek. xvii:4). They had become
Canaanites with the balances of deceit, loving to oppress.
They had become fraudulent merchants, by cheating and
oppression. Their wrong attitude towards Jehovah, having
forsaken Him, led to a wrong attitude towards their fellow-
men. Instead of repenting they boasted, "I am become
rich, I have found me out substance." They were breaking
the law continually (see Lev. xix:36 and Deut. xxv:13-16).
Yet in all their lawbreaking they prided themselves of being
a righteous nation. *Tn all my labors they shall find no
iniquity in me that were sin." How all this fits a good part
of the Jews today is to well known to need further comment.

Some day it will be different through the grace and mercy
of the never-changing Lord. He is the Jehovah who de-
livered them out of Egypt; all their blessing and prosperity
they owed to Him; He had guided and preserved them,
and all their sinning would not diminish His faithfulness to
them. They are going to dwell again some day in tents, a
reference to the feast of tabernacles, that great feast which
typifies the coming millennial blessings for restored Israel.
Such had been the continued testimony of the prophets
He had sent, who announced the coming judgments and the
final blessings in a future day. But now everything was
ruin on account of their idolatry. Gilgal was the seat of a
part of their idolatry (chapter iv:15, ix:15). Then once
more they are reminded of their progenitor Jacob. He fled

76 TEE PROPHET ROSEA

before Esau his brother, yet though he was weak he served
faithfully for a wife and for a wife he kept guard and Jehovah
guarded and blest him. So He would concern Himself with
them again. The twenty-sixth chapter of Deuteronomy
throws light on this passage. But what was Ephraim's con-
dition? Instead of acknowledging all Jehovah had done for
Jacob and his offspring they provoked Him to bitter anger,
therefore the Lord would punish them.

CHAPTER XIII
EPHRAIM'S RUIN AND JUDGMENT

1. Ruin and Judgment. 1-8.

2. It is Thy Destruction, O Israel! 9-11.
8. Mercy to Follow Wrath. 12-14.

4. The Desolation of the Nearing Judgment. 15-16. ;

1. Ruin and Judgment: Verses 1-8. In the beginning
Ephraim was humble, and knowing his dependence, he spoke
with trembling. Then he became puffed up, exalted him-
self in Israel, loving the pre-eminence, it led on to the schism
from Judah and the house of David. The next step after
this separation from Judah was idolatry, then the dying
of the nation began. This sad history of Ephraim, reveal-
ing the steps of decline, beginning with self-exaltation and
ending in ruin and death, has often been repeated in the
individual history of countless multitudes among the pro-
fessing people of God. i

Then they went from sinning to sinning, from bad to
worse, just as in our own days, the apostates in Christendom
go from bad to worse in fulfillment of 2 Timothy iii:13. "But
evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving
and being deceived." Idolatry flourished on all sides. They
added idol images in Gilgal and Beersheba to the golden
calves (Amos viii:14). Then the judgment is announced.
Just as the rising sun quickly disperses the morning clouds
and the dew, so they should pass away (see chapter vi:4).
They would be like the chaff driven with a whirlwind out of
the threshing floor (Psa. i:4, xxxv:5; Isa. xvii:13, xli:15-

TEE PROPHET ROSEA 77

16); they would be like the quickly evaporating smoke,
which comes out of the windows of a house without a
chimney.

Then the Lord reminds them of their former relationship
and that He is the true God, "and there is no Saviour beside
Me." In the land of the wilderness He knew them and
there He cared for them and provided all their needs. But
instead of acknowledging Him, they became full; self-
exaltatiou followed, and then they forgot Him. Through-
out the Word of God self-exaltation, pride is always given
as the starting point of departure from God and the conse-
quent ruin.

Verses 7-8 are interesting. They are to be rent by wild
beasts, which, symbolically, represent the Gentiles. The
ten tribes were carried away by the Assyrian, while later,
when Judah met its judgment, the whole land was devastated
by the lion-empire (Babylonia) ; by the bear (Medo-Persia) ;
by the leopard (the Graeco-Macedonia ; and finally by the
dreadful beast, "the beast of the field shall tear them," the
Roman power.

2. It is Thy Destruction, O Israel: Verses 9-11. "It is
thy destruction, O Israel, that thou art against Me, against
thy help." What they had done in lifting themselves up, in
forsaking Jehovah was spiritual and national suicide. They
were alone responsible for their destruction. Where was
their King to save them out of such ruin and destruction.?
The house of David with which the covenant had been made
they had forsaken. He reminds them again of an episode
in their past history, when they, their fathers, were rebellious
and asked for a king. Such kings like Saul had been their
kings which reigned over the ten tribes.

3. Mercy to Follow Wrath: Verses 12-14. Ephraim de-
liberately held on to his sin. Their iniquity was bound up;
it was laid by in store. The reference is to the Oriental cus-
tom of tying up money and other valuables into a bundle
and hiding it somewhere. It was done for security. So the
Lord would see to it that their sins and iniquity would not
be forgotten; all their sins were preserved for punishment

78 THE PROPHET HOSEA

(see Deut. xxxii:34). Sorrow and great trouble should come
upon them. It has been thus in the past, it will be so in
the future, in the time of "Jacob's trouble" (Jer. xxx:4).
When that time comes, when all their hope and strength is
gone (Deut. xxxii •.36-43) then He will deliver. Then all the
enemies will be put down. Redemption from death and
the plagues will come; they will be ransomed from the power
of Sheol (not hell). Israel will be raised from its national
death — sleep. Long she has been buried among the nations,
without spiritual and national life, like those who are in the
power of Sheol. But Jehovah will deliver the faithful por-
tion of Israel and Judah, and they will rise from the dust
of the earth, the symbol of their national restoration.
To use this passage, as it has been done, to teach the resti-
tution of the wicked, is wrong. It has nothing to do with
the wicked dead and their future, but all applies to the
restoration of Israel (see the annotations of chapters xvi
and xxxvii of the Prophet Ezekiel).

3. The Desolation of the Nearing Judgment: Verses 15-
16. These verses describe the horrors of the coming judg-
ment by the Assyrians (see 2 Kings viii:12, xv.l6, and Amos
i:13).

CHAPTER XIV
THE RETURN AND THE GLORIOUS REDEMPTION

1. The Exhortation to Return. 1-3.

2. The Glorious Redemption. 4-9.

1. The Exhortation to Retiirn: Verses 1-3. This chap-
ter is a wonderful finale co tlie messages of Hosea. What
tender entreaties! What gracious assurance! What glori-
ous promises of a future redeiription! It is Jehovah beseech-
ing His people, those who Ivr.d forsaken Him, outraged His
character of holiness and wlio had despised Him. First is
the call to return. God's hands are tied as long as His
people stay away from Him and do not return to Him in
true repentance. No true salvation and deliverance for

THE PROPHET HOSE A 79

His people is possible without a true heart return unto Him.
It is this for which He looks and waits.

Then the Lord Himself puts His word and a prayer into
their mouth. He loves to provide all. "Take with you
words and turn to Jehovah and say unto Him, Forgive all
iniquity, and receive us graciously, so will we render the
calves of our lips." Could their poor, darkened and mis-
trusting hearts ever even have imagined to ask thus of Him?
Their consciences were defiled; the burden of guilt was upon
them. But Jehovah does not mention their sins and their
guilt, but tells them just to pray for forgiveness and for a
gracious reception. And He who tells His wayward people
to pray, to turn to Him, to pray for forgiveness. He who
assures them that He hears, assures them of a gracious
receiving, will never fail. How full of comfort these few
sentences are to all His people at all times! We can imagine
that in Hosea's day there were individual Israelites who
took these words to heart. After them generations of Jews
read them and turned individually to the Lord, found for-
giveness and became the objects of His grace. And we
too, as His people, when we have gone back in our spiritual
life, can find our comfort here, and appropriate all this in
faith as we act upon His Word. In the future the remnant
of Israel will take these gracious exhortations to heart, and
before the glorious redemption is given to them return to
the Lord with this prayer.

"So will v/e render the calves of our lips." Literally ren-
dered it IS "we will pay as young oxen our lips," i.e., present
the prayers of our lips as a thankoffering; we will be wor-
shippers. Such is the result of a real return unto the Lord
with sins forgiven and restored to His fellowship. The days
of singing are coming for Israel in that day when they return
unto Him and He appears in His Glory to be enthroned as
King. It will usher in the singing times for all the world,
including groaning creation, then delivered. Then follows
the evidence of their genuine repentance. It is expressed in
words suited to the condition of Ephraim in Hosea's day.
They repudiate Assyria; they acknowledge that no salva-

80 THE PROPHET HOSEA

tion is there, but only in Jehovah. No longer will they trust
in their own strength and in the strength of their horses; no
longer will they turn to idols and call them "Our God," but
they will acknowledge Him in whom the fatherless findeth
mercy. Israel, God's Firstborn son, had been the prodigal,
was fatherless, though the Father's love never gave them
up. But now the prodigal returns and knows there is One
in whom the fatherless findeth abundant mercy. All this
true repentance will be manifested at the close of this age,
when the remnant of Israel turns to the Lord. ' ^^

2. The Glorious Redemption: Verses 5-9. His gracious
answer to such repentance follows. Three times Jehovah
speaks "I will." This is the word of Sovereign grace (see
Annotations on Ezekiel, page 315). The three "I wills"
are: (1) I will heal their backslidings; (2) I will love them
freely; (3) I will be a dew unto Israel. They are arranged
in a most blessed order. Mercy, love and gracious refresh-
ment resulting in fruitfulness and beauty, such is the order.
The past is wiped out, the present is love and the future is
glory. Like the lily, like Lebanon and like the olive-tree,
Israel is to be. The lily denotes beauty; they will be clad
in the beauty of holiness. Lebanon stands for strength and
stability; they will become the nation of power which can
never be moved. Then they shall be once more the olive-
tree; the broken off branches will be put back (Rom. xi:16,
etc.). The blessings of the restored Israel in the millennium
are given in the seventh verse.

Beautiful is verse 8. "Ephraim (shall say), "What have
I to do any more with idols? I hear and I look upon Him;
I am like a green fir tree. From Me is thy fruit found."
Ephraim, the cake half turned, Ephraim, of whom it was
said, he is joined to idols, leave him alone, now repudiates
the idols. And why? I hear and I look upon Him! The
vision of the Lord turned the stubborn heart. It is so still;
the great power is to hear Him, to look upon Him. In that
day Israel will look on Him whom they pierced, the great
turning point in their future history. Then the nation will
yield the fruit through their fellowship with Him. Blessed

THE PROPHET HOSEA 81

ending of this prophecy. "For the ways of Jehovah are
right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors
shall fall therein."

JOEL

The Prophet Joel

INTRODUCTION

Joel means "Jehovah is God." This name occurs frequently in the
Old Testament (1 Sam. viii:2; 1 Chronicles iv:35, v:4, viii:12, etc.).
The Prophet Joel was the son of Pethuel. Numerous guesses have been
made about his personality. A tradition states that he was from
Bethom in the tribe of Reuben. In 1 Chronicles xxiv:16 a man by
name of Pethaliah is mentioned. Some have connected him with the
father of Joel, Pethuel, claiming upon this that Joel belonged to a
priestly family; but this, as well as other claims cannot be confirmed.
Jewish expositors make the statement , that Pethuel was Samuel,
because Samuel had a son by name of Joel; but, inasmuch as the sons
of Samuel were evildoers this is incorrect. The book itself does not
give even a single hint as to his personal history.

WHEN AND WHERE JOEL LIVED

As to the time and place, when and where he exercised his prophetic
oflBce, we are not left in doubt. He prophesied not like Hosea among
the ten tribes, but he was a prophet of Judah. The entire prophecy
bears witness to it; this fact has never been disputed. It is different
with the date of Joel. Destructive criticism has assigned to Joel a
post-exilic date, with some very puerile arguments. For instance they
claim that the mention of the walls of Jerusalem (chapter xi:7, 9), point
to a date after Ezra and Nehemiah. Such an argument is not an
argument of a scholar, but of a schoolboy. Critics also object to an
early date because the Greeks are mentioned in chapter iii:6. But
the Greeks are also mentioned in an inscription of Sargon (about 710
B. C), and long before that in the Armana letters a Greek is also
mentioned, as stated in "Higher Criticism and the Monuments" by
Professor Sayce.

The best Jewish and Christian scholarship has maintained a very
early date of Joel. When the editor published his larger work on Joel,
in which he puts the date between 860 and 850 B. C, Professor H. A.
Sayce of Oxford, one of the greatest scholars of our times, wrote in a
personal letter to the writer: "Let me thank you heartily for your very
interesting exposition of Joel. I am glad to see a work of the kind on
conservative lines; the attempts to find a late date for the prophet rests
on arguments which to the inductive scientist are no arguments at all."
This strong statement and endorsement of a very early date for Joel
certainly outweighs the arguments of certain critics who possess nothing
like the scholarship of the Oxford professor.

86 THE PROPHET JOEL

There is nothing mentioned in Joel of the Assyrian period 800-650,
nor is there anything said of the Babylonian period 650-538, hence
Joel must have prophesied before the Assyrian period, that is in the
ninth century B. C, or he must have lived after the exile. The latter
is excluded, therefore Joel exercised his office as prophet in Judah
during the middle of the ninth century, as stated above, about 860-850
B. C. This view is abundantly verified by different facts found in the
book itself.

Now, the date of Amos is generally accepted as being in the middle

of the 8th century before Christ. In the first chapter of the Book of

Amos there is an undoubted quotation from the Book of Joel. (See

N Joel iii:16 and Amos i:2). Dr. Pusey makes the following argument out

of this fact:

"Amos quoting Joel attests two things. (1) That Joel's prophecy
must, at the time when Amos wrote, have become a part of Holy
Scriptures, and its authority must have been acknowledged; (2) That
its authority must have been acknowledged by, and it must have been
in circulation among, those to whom Amos prophesied; otherwise he
would not have prefixed to his book those words of Joel. For the whole
force of the words, as employed by Amos, depends on being recognized
by his hearers, as a renewal of the prophecy of Joel. Certainly bad
men jeered at Amos, as though this threatening would not be fulfilled."

The seven strongest reasons for the early date of Joel are the fol-
lowing:

1. Joel charges the Philistines with having invaded Judah, captured
the inhabitants, and sold them as slaves. Now, according to 2 Chron.
xxi:10, this happened under Joram, B. C. 889-883. And they suffered
the punishment predicted for their crime, under Uzziah, 2 Chron.
xxvi:6. Hence Joel could not have written this book before B. C. 889,
nor later than 732.

2. The Phoenicians, i. e., those of Tyre and Sidon, who in the days
of David and Solomon were the allies, had in later times become the
enemies of Judah. They too had been guilty of selling Jewish prisoners
to the Grecians. Joel predicts that they also shall be punished for this
crime — a prediction fulfilled in the time of Uzziah, B. C. 811-759.
This proves that Joel must have prophesied before the days of Uzziah.

S. The Edomites (iii:19), are ranked among the enemies of Judah-
They came from the same stock as the Jews, and on account of their
sin against their brethren, their country was to become a perpetual
desolation. From 2 Kings viii:20, comp. with 2 Chron. xxi:8, we learn
that they became independent of Judah in the time of Joram, B. C.
889-883. They were again subdued, and their capital city Petra
captured, B. C. 838-811, though the southern and eastern parts of their
territory were not conquered until the reign of Uzziah, about B. C. 830.

THE PROPHET JOEL 87

The prophet must have exercised his ministry, therefore, prior to the
latter date.

4. The fact that no mention is made of the invasion by the Syrians
of Damascus proves that Joel was one of the early prophets. This
occurred in the latter part of the reign of Josiah, B. C. 850-840.

5. The high antiquity of Joel is proved by the fact that he makes no
reference to the Assyrian invasion of the two Jewish kingdoms in B. C.
790. On the other hand, Amos clearly alludes to it (vi:14).

6. Another proof is derived from the relation between Joel and Amos.
The latter was certainly well acquainted with the writings of the
former.

7. The mention of the Valley of Jeoshaphat is a circumstance leading
to the same conclusion. It took this name from the memorable victory
there gained over Moab and Ammon. The way in which Joel refers to
it shows that this event must have been a comparatively recent one,
and that the memory of it was still fresh.

On these grounds we conclude that in fixing the time of this prophet,
we cannot take for our terminus a quo an earlier date than B. C. 890,
nor for our terminus ad quern a later one than 840. It most probably
falls between B. C. 860-850. Joel therefore is probably the oldest of
the Minor Prophets.

THE -PROPHECY OF JOEL

The prophecy of Joel is one which extends from his own time to the
time of Israel's restoration and blessing in the day of the Lord. The
style of the brief prophecy is sublime. To show its beauty we give a
corrected metric version. It must be read through several times to
grasp its vivid descriptions, the terse and solemn utterances, the full,
smooth phrases, and above all the revelation it contains. His utter-
ances are distinguished by the soaring flight of imagination, the origin-
ality, beauty and variety of the similes. The conceptions are simple
enough, but they are at the same time bold and grand. The perfect
order in which they are arranged, the even flow, the well compacted
structure of the prophecy are all remarkable.

He may well be called "The Prophet of the Lord's Day." Five
times he mentions this day. Chapters i:15, ii:l-12, 10-11, 30-31, and
iii:15-16. The great theme then is "The Day of the Lord," that coming
day, when the Lord is manifested, when the enemies of Israel are
judged, when the Lord restores and redeems Israel.

The occasion of the book and prophecy of Joel was a dreadful scourge
which swept over the land of Israel. Locusts swarms had fallen upon
the land and stripped it of everything green. There was also a great
drought. All was a chastisement from the Lord. Hence we see in the
first chapter the penitential lamentations of old and young, priests and
people. Then the vision widens in the second chapter. The locusts

88 THE PROPHET JOEL

appear no longer as a scourge of literal insects; they become typical of
an invading army. This hostile army invades the land from the
North and makes the land a wilderness. The alarm is sounded in
Zion; the repentance of the people follows. Then comes the great
change in this picture of desolation and despair. The day of the Lord
is announced. He acts in behalf of His people. He delivers them from
the Northern Army; He restores what the locusts had devoured; the
land is restored and the latter rain is given. At the close of the second
chapter stands the prophecy which predicts spiritual blessings through
the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon all flesh, a prophecy which
has not yet been completely fulfilled, which is not now in process of
fulfillment, but which will be accomplished in the day of the Lord.
The last chapter is the great finale of this symphony of Prophecy.
Here the judgment of the nations is vividly portrayed; what the day
of the Lord will bring, and what will follow in blessing is the final theme.
But few Christians have ever given much heed to this prophetic
book. There are many important truths in this book. A great deal of
confusion might have been avoided if more attention had been given to
the setting in which the prediction of the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit upon all flesh is found. The Pentecostal delusion is built up
mostly upon the wrong interpretations of this prophecy.

THE DIVISIONS OF JOEL

The divisions of the prophecy of Joel, as found in our English version,
cannot be improved upon. We follow it in our analysis and annotations.

THE PROPHET JOEL 89

The Book of Joel

A METRIC VERSION

CHAPTER I.

1. The Word of Jehovah which came to Joel, the Son of Pethuel.

2. Hear this, ye aged men

And open the ear ye inhabitants of the land!
Hath this happened in your days.
Or even in the days of your fathers?
S. Relate it to your children

And your children to their children.
And their children to another generation.

4. What the Gazam* left, the Arbeh hath devoured
And what the Arbeh left, the Jelek hath devoured
And what the Jelek left, the Ckasel hath devoured.

5. Awake, ye drunkards and weep!
And howl all ye drinkers of wine
Because of the sweet wine.

For it is taken away from your mouth.

6. For a nation has come up upon my land
Mighty and without number —

His teeth — lion's teeth —

The jaw teeth, that of a lioness.

7. He hath made my vine for a desolation
And my figtree broken off;

Peeled off completely and cast it away;
Its branches are made white.

8. Lament like a virgin!

Girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

9. Cut off is the meat and drink offering from the house of
Jehovah.

The priests mourn, the servants of Jehovah.
10. "Wasted is the field
Mourning is the land —
For wasted is the corn
The new wine is dried up
The oil faileth."

*We left these four words untranslated for reasons which will be
given in the exposition.

90 THE PROPHET JOEL

11. Be ashamed, husbandmen!
Howl — vine dressers!

For the wheat and the barley.
Because the harvest of the field is lost.

12. The vine is dried up
And the figtree faileth

The pomegranate, also the palm and the apple tree."
All the trees of the field are withered.
Gone is joy from the children of men.

13. Gird yourselves and lament, O ye priests.
Howl, ministers of the altar;

Come lie down in sackcloth all night

Ye ministers of my God.

For withholden from the house of your God

Are the meat offering and the drink offering.

14. Sanctify a fast.

Call a solemn gathering.

Bring together the Elders

All the inhabitants of the land

In the house of Jehovah your God

And cry unto Jehovah

15. Woe! For the Day!

Because near is the day of Jehovah

Even like destruction from Shaddai* it comes.

16. Is not the food cut off before our eyes?
From the house of our God joy and gladness.

17. The seeds have perished under their clods.
The garners become desolate

The storehouses are broken down
For withered is the corn.

18. Hear the cattle groan!

The herds of cattle are bewildered,
For there is no feeding place for them.
Also the flocks of sheep are made to suffer, f

19. To Thee, Jehovah, I cry.

For the fire has consumed the goodly places of the desert
And a flame hath burned all the trees of the field.

20. Also the cattle of the field look up J unto Thee

*The only time Shaddai (Almighty) is used in Joel. In the Hebrew
there is a resemblance of sound between "destruction" and "Shaddai.''

fThe Hebrew word, which we translate "made to suffer" means in
its root "to be guilty." The form of the verb used here would best be
translated by the German "bussen."

JAnother word different from the 19th verso is used, though nearly
all translators use "cry." It is more a groaning, desirous looking up.

THE PROPHET JOEL 91

For the streams of water are dried up.

And a fire hath consumed the goodly places of the desert.

CHAPTER II.

1. Blow the trumpet in Zion,

Sound an alarm in the mount of my holiness.
Let all the dwellers of the land tremble.
For the day of Jehovah cometh.
For it is near at hand.

2. A day of darkness and gloom

A day of clouds and thick darkness.

Like the dawn spread upon the mountains; —

A people numerous and strong!

Never hath there been the like before.

Neither shall the like come again.

In the years of many generations.

3. A fire devoureth before them.
And behind them a flame burneth;

Before them the land is as the garden of Eden,
And behind them a desolate wilderness.
Yea, and nothing can escape them.

4. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses.
And like the horsemen shall they run.

6. Like the noise of chariots.

On the mountain tops, they shall leap.

Like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble.

Like a strong people set in battle array.

6. Before them the peoples are in distress
All faces turn to paleness.

7. They run like mighty men

They climb the wall like men of war;
And they march each one in his ways.
And they turn not aside from their ranks.

8. Nor doth one press upon another.

A mighty one* marches in the high road.
They fall upon the dart, but are not wounded.

9. They spread themselves in the city.
They run along upon the wall.
They climb up into the houses.

They enter in by the windows like a thief.
10. The earth trembleth before them.
The heavens shake.

*This is the literal meaning.

92 THE PROPHET JOEL

The sun and the moon are darkened.
And the stars withdraw their shining.

11. And Jehovah uttereth His voice before his army
For very great is His host.

For He that executeth His Word is mighty;

For great is the day of Jehovah and very terrible.

And who can stand it?

12. Yet even now, saith Jehovah,
Return unto me with all your heart.

With fasting and with weeping and with mourning.

13. And rend your heart and not your garments.
And return unto Jehovah your God,

For He is gracious and merciful.

Slow to anger and of great loving kindness

And repenteth Him of the evil.

14. Who knoweth He may return and repent
And leave a blessing behind.

An oblation and a drink offering
For Jehovah your God.

15. Blow the trumpet in Zion,
Sanctify a fast.

16. Call out a solemn assembly,
Gather the people.
Sanctify a congregation.
Assemble the old men.
Gather the children.

And those that suck the breasts;

Let the bridegroom leave his chamber

And the bride her closet;

17. Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah,
Weep between the porch and the altar.
And let them say: —

"Spare Thy people, O Jehovah,
And give not thine heritage to reproach
That the nations should rule over them*.
Wherefore should they say among the peoples
Where is their God?"

18. Then Jehovah will be jealous for His land.
And will have pity on His people.

19. And Jehovah will answer and say to His people:
Behold I am sending to you the corn.

The new wine and the oil;

And ye shall be satisfied therewith.

"Or, "they that should be a byword of the nations."

THE PROPHET JOEL 93

And I will no longer make you
For a reproach among the nations. *

20. And I will remove afar from you the One from the North
And will drive him into a dry and desolate land.

His face toward the Eastern sea

His rear toward the Western sea

And his stench shall arise

And his ill odour shall ascend.

For he hath lifted himself up to do great things.

21. Fear not, O Land
Be glad and rejoice.

For Jehovah doeth great things.

22. Fear not, ye beasts of the field!

For the pastures of the desert spring forth.

The tree beareth her fruit

The fig tree and the vine give their strength.

23. Ye children of Zion, be glad and rejoice
In Jehovah your God;

For He giveth you the early rain in righteousness.
He causeth to descend for you the showers ,
The earl}' and the latter rain as before.

24. And the floors shall be full of corn.

And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

25. And I will restore to you the years.
Which the Arbeth hath eaten.

The Jekel, the Chasel and the Gazam,
My great army, which I sent among you.
20. Then ye shall be in abundance, and be satisfied
And praise the name of Jehovah your God,
Who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never be ashamed.

27. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I Jehovah am your God, and none else.
And my people shall never be ashamed.

28. And it shall come to pass afterwards,

I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.

And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy;

Your old men shall dream dreams.

Your young men shall see visions.

29. Yea, even upon the men servants and the maid servants.
In those days will I pour out my Spirit.

30. And I will give wonders in the heaven and on earth.
Blood, and fire and pillars of smoke.

31. The sun shall be turned to darkness.
And the moon into blood.

Before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come.

94 THE PROPHET JOEL

32. And it shall come to pass

Whosoever shall call on the name of Jehovah shall be saved .
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance.
As Jehovah hath said.
Even for the remnant whom Jehovah shall call.

CHAPTER III.

1. For behold in those days and in that time.

When I shall bring back the captivity of Judah and
Jerusalem; '■

2. I will also bring together all nations.

And will bring down into the valley of Jehoshaphat;
And there will I judge them on account of my people,
And my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered
among the nations.
And they divided my land.

3. And they cast lots for my people.
They gave a boy for a harlot.

And sold a girl for wine, and drank it.

4. Yea also, what have ye to do with me, O Tyre and
Sidon,

And all the borders of Philistia.'
Would you requite me with retaliation?
If your retaliate

Swiftly and speedily will I bring your recompense
Upon your own head.
6. Because ye have taken my silver and gold,

And have brought into your temples my very best things

6. And the children of Judah and of Jerusalem,
Ye sold to the children of the Greeks,

That ye might remove them far from their border.

7. Behold I will raise them up out of the place whither
ye sold them,

And I will return the retaliation upon your own head.

8. And I will sell your sons and your daughters
Into the hands of the sons of Judah.

And they shall sell them to the Sabeans to a far off nation.
For Jehovah hath spoken it.

9. Proclaim this among the nations:
Declare a war!

Arouse the mighty ones!

Let all the men of war draw near, let them come up!
10. Beat your ploughshares into swords.
And your pruning hooks into spears.
Let the weak say, I am strong.

THE PROPHET JOEL 95

11. Come together,

All ye nations round about

Gather yourselves together.

Thither cause thy mighty ones to come down,

O, Jehovah!

12. Let the nations arise and come up
To the valley of Jehoshaphat,

For there will I sit to judge all the nations round about.

13. Put in the sickle.

For the harvest is ripe;

Come— Tread!

For the wine-press is full.

The vats overflow;

For their wickedness is great.

14. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!

For the day of Jehovah is at hand in the valley of decision.

15. The sun and the moon are darkened
And the stars withdraw their shining.

16. And Jehovah shall roar from Zion,

And send forth His voice from Jerusalem;
And the heavens and the earth shall shake;
But Jehovah will be a refuge for His people
And a fortress for the sons of Israel.

17. And ye shall know that I, Jehovah, your God,
Dwell in Zion, my holy mountain;

And Jerusalem shall be holy, .

And strangers shall no more pass through her.

18. And it shall come to pass in that day

That the mountains shall drop down new wine.

And the hills shall flow with milk,

And all the river beds of Judah shall be full with waters.

And a fountain shall come forth from the house of Jehovah,

And shall water the valley of Shittim.

19. Egypt shall be a desolation

And Edom shall be a desolate wilderness.

For their violence against the children of Judah,

Because they shed innocent blood in their land.

20. But Judah shall abide forever.

And Jerusalem from generation to generation.

21. And I will purge them from the blood
From which I had not purged them.
And Jehovah will dwell in Zion.

96 THE PROPHET JOEL

Analysis and Annotations

Chapter i.
I. THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS.

IL THE COMING DAY OF THE LORD; THE RUIN,
THE REPENTANCE AND THE RESTORATION.

Chapter ii.

in. THE EVENTS OF THE DAY OF THE LORD;
ISRAEL'S ENEMIES JUDGED; THE KING-
DOM ESTABLISHED.

Chapter iii.

I. THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS
CHAPTER I

1. The Prophet's Appeal. 1-4.

2. The Call to the Drunkards. 5-7.

3. The Call to the People and the Priests. 8-14.

4. The Day of the Lord; the Suffering Land. 15-18.

5. The Prayer of the Prophet. 19-20.

1. The Prophet's Appeal: Verses 1-4. The Prophet an-
nounces that it is the Word of Jehovah he utters, which
came to him. Verses 2 and 3 are an introduction to the
description which follows the great calamity which had
befallen the land. It is in the form of an appeal. What had
happened to the land is of such a fearful character that it is
unprecedented. The visitation of the land by the locust
plague is to be related to future generations, because there
is a great prophetic meaning as to the future attached to
the locusts, which will be pointed out later. The fourth
verse we render in a way our own, leaving the words of the
destroying insects untranslated.

What the Gazam left, the Arbeh hath devoured;
And what the Arbeh left, the Jelek hath devoured;
And what the Jelek left, the Chasel hath devoured.

THE PROPHET JOEL 97

We left the Hebrew words untranslated because they do
not express insects of different species; they are one insect,
the locust, in a fourfold stage. Gazam means "to gnaw off;"
Arbeh is "to be many"; this is the common name of the
locusts on account of their migratory habits. Jelek is "to
lick off," and Chasel means "to devour or consume." The
locust passes through a fourfold stage in its development
to full growth. First, it is the gnawing locust, when first
hatched; then it gets its wings and flies about; after that
it starts in its destructive work by licking off whatever it
finds, and, finally, it reaches its full growth and devours
everything in its path. For a full description of the locusts,
their habits, their awful work of destruction in Oriental
countries see our commentary on Joel, pages 33-39 and in
Appendix B.*

The locust plague which laid Israel's land bare was a judg-
ment from the Lord. It was one of the judgments the Lord
sent upon Egypt, and Moses had prophetically announced
that the Lord would use them to punish his people (see
Deut. xxviii:38, 42).

But these literal locusts, which fell literally upon the land
and destroyed in a short time all vegetation, are symbolic
of other agencies which were to be used later in Israel's his-
tory to bring judgment upon the land and the people. They
are typical of Gentile armies, as stated in the second chap-
ter, where the Lord calls them "My great army," Here is
unquestionably a prophetic forecast as to the future of the
land. From Daniel's prophecy we learn twice that four
world-powers should subjugate Israel and prey upon the
land: Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Graeco-Macedonia and
Rome. Zechariah, also, in one of his night visions, beheld
four horns, and these four horns scattered Judah and Jerusa-
lem. We see, therefore, in the locusts, first, the literal locusts
which destroyed everything in vegetation at the time Joel

*Many foolish applications have been made of these locusts. One of
the most ridiculous is the one made by a certain woman-healer in her
book "Lost and Restored."

98 TEE PROPHET JOEL

lived, and these locusts are symbolical of future judgments
executed upon the land and the nations by the prophetically
announced world-powers. At the close of the "times of
the Gentiles," during which Jerusalem is trodden down, the
final invasion of the land takes place; it is this which is
described in the second chapter.

2. The Call to the Drunkards: Verses 5-7. The first
swarm had probably appeared in the fall; only the vine-
yards had not yet been harvested. They attacked the vine-
yards and speedily the vines and the grapes disappeared
under the onslaught. The drinkers of wine were therefore
to suffer first. That there was much drunkenness among
the people Israel, especially in the days of their prosperity,
may be learned from Amos vi:l-6; Isa. v.ll, xxiv:7-9, xxviii:
7, etc. In verse 6 the locusts are described as a nation,
mighty without number, with lion's teeth. This confirms
the typical application to Gentile nations of the future who
would devastate the land. See, furthermore, Numbers xiii :33,
Isaiah xl:22 and Jeremiah li:14, where the same comparison
is made. -^

3. The Call to the People and to the Priests: Verses 8-
14. On account of the great disaster the people are called
to mourn and put on sackcloth. "Lament like a virgin,
girded with sackcloth, for the husband of her youth." This
is a significant expression.. Israel in her relationship to
Jehovah is here indicated. We are reminded of Isaiah iii:26
concerning Jerusalem, "And her gates shall lament and
mourn, and she, being desolate, shall sit on the ground;"
and Isaiah liv:6, "For the Lord hath called thee as a woman
forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when
thou wast refused, saith thy God." So great was the havoc
wrought that the meal and drink offering was cut off from the
house of the Lord so that the priests mourned, the servants
of Jehovah. This is their mournful chant:

Wasted is the field,
Mourning is the land.
For wasted is the corn.
The new vine is dried up.
The oil faileth. j

TEE PROPHET JOEL 99

This is followed by the call to lament for the husbandmen
and vinedressers. The whole harvest was gone, and besides
the failure of the vine, the fig tree the other trees are also
mentioned, yea, "all the trees of the field are withered." On
account of the severity of this visitation joy had left the
children of men.

Then comes the definite call to the priests to lament and
cry unto Jehovah and to sanctify a fast (verses 13-14). But
there is no record of a response. At the close of this chapter
the Prophet alone raises his voice to Jehovah. We shall
learn in the second chapter of the time of the national re-
pentance of Israel.

4. The Day of the Lord. The Sufifering Land: Verses
15-18. For the first time we meet the day of the Lord
(Yom Jehovah), that phrase used so frequently in all the
prophetic books. The 15th verse is an exclamation of the
Prophet as before his vision that day appears. In the midst
of the weird description of the calamity, present in Joel's day,
he beholds a greater judgment approaching. It is the same
day he beholds which the other prophets mention; each
time Joel uses this expression it means the coming day of
the Lord, still approaching. It may be noticed that the
five passages in Joel in which "the day of the Lord" is men-
tioned are progressive. ^

For a comparative study of this important phrase we
quote the leading passage of the different prophets.

Isaiah. The phrase "in that day" is found many times
in his book. We mention ii:2-5, 10-22, 26; iv xi;xiii:6-
13. The great glory predictions of Isaiah liv, Ix, Ixi and
Ixii are all related to this day.

Jeremiah. He also speaks of that day (chapters xxv:30-
33; xxx:18-24).

Ezekiel. Chapters vii and viii. From chapters xxxvii-
xlviii we have the record of great events both of judgment
and blessing which will come to pass in connection wdth
that day. While Daniel does not use in his book the phrase
"day of the Lord" nearly all his great prophecies are con-
nected with that day. It is the day in which the stone

100 TEE PROPHET JOEL

smites the great image, representing the times of the Gen-
tiles, and demoHshes it; the day on which "the Son of Man"
comes in the clouds of heaven to receive the kingdom,
Hosea points to that daj' in chapters ii and iii, as well as
in the closing chapter. Amos witnesses to it in chapters
i:2, vi:3, ix, 2,15. Obadiah, who lived about the same time
as Joel, speaks of the day in verse 15 of his brief prophecy.
Micah in his prophecy refers to it in chapter v :15. In Nahum
the day is described in which the Lord will deal in judg-
ment with the wicked world cities (see chapter i:l-9). The
third chapter of Habakkuk reveals that day. Zephaniah
has a great deal more to say about that day than the pre-
ceding prophetic books (see chapters i: 14-1 8; ii and iii).
Haggai bears witness to it in chapter ii:6-7. (Compare
with Heb. xii -.26-29) . Zechariah uses the phrase "in that
day" many times, especially in the last three chapters.
Malachi reveals the day in chapters iii:l-3 and iv:l-3).

We learn from all this what a prominent place the day
of the Lord occupies in the prophecies. It must be so, for
it is the day of manifestation and consummation. Joel
beheld here for the first time this day.

Then follows an additional description of the great calamity
which had come upon the land in Joel's day (verses 16-18).

5. The Prayer of the Prophet: Verses 19-20. Joel was,
like all the other prophets, a man of prayer. No other
mention is made by the Prophet concerning himself, but
this brief word is sufficient to give us a glimpse of his inner
life and his trust in the Lord. He cried to Jehovah in the
great distress.

n. THE COMING DAY OF THE LORD. THE REPENT-
ANCE AND RESTORATION OF ISRAEL.

CHAPTER n

1. The Alarm Sounded; the Day at Hand. 1-2.

2. The Invading Army from the North. 3-11.

3. The Repentance of the People and Cry for Help. 12-17.

TEE PROPHET JOEL 101

4. "Then." The Great Change. 18.

5. Promises of Restoration. The Early and Latter Rain. 19-27.

6. The Outpouring of the Spirit upon all Flesh. 28-31.

7. Deliverance in Mount Zion and Jerusalem. 32.

1. The Alarm Sounded; the Day at Hand: Verses 1-2.

With this chapter we reach the heart of the prophecy of
Joel. The description of the Uteral locust plague is now
no longer continued. As we have shown the literal
locusts in their different stages were symbolical of nations
laying waste the land as the locusts had done. Dispensation-
ally the first chapter stands for the entire times of the
Gentiles, which began with Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. ii:36-
38) , and they continue till the time comes when the God of
heaven sets up a kingdom that cannot be destroyed. The
second chapter takes us at once to the end of the times of
the Gentiles, when the day of the Lord is to be enacted.
Before the Lord appears in that day, the greatest distress
will be upon the land and the people; there will be a great
time of trouble such as never was before (Matt. xxiv:21).
The remnant of His people v.ill cry to the Lord for inter-
vention and for deliverance, and the Lord will answer their
cry and deliver them. Then their land becomes once more
like the garden of Eden, there will be a great outpouring
of the Spirit upon all flesh and from Jerusalem the great
kingdom-center blessings will extend to all the nations/

This v/hole chapter as well as the next one is therefore
imfulfilled. Nothing of it has been fulfilled. Before it can
be fulfilled a part of the people Israel must be restored to |
the land of promise and the ancient ceremonies and insti-
tutions be at least partially restored.

The chapter begins with the sounding of the alarm for
"the Day of Jehovah cometh, for it is near at hand." The
last prophetic week of Daniel is now in process of fulfillment
and near its end (see annotations on Dan. ix). A part of
the people are back in the land, having returned there in
unbelief, just as we see it today in the Zionistic movement.
But in their midst will also be found a God-fearing remnant.

102 TEE PROPHET JOEL

The blowing of the trumpet shows that they have revived
their ancient custom (see Num. x:l, 2, 9). We also men-
tion that trumpets are often connected with the appearing
of the Lord and the restoration of Israel. In the second
verse the day is described and may be compared with
Zephaniah i:15-16 and Isaiah lx:2. Then there is an in-
vading army announced which is fully described in the
verses which follow. The words, "As the dawn spread upon
the mountains," are a description of the day and not of the
army, as some have taken it. On the one hand the day
of the Lord is a day of darkness and gloom, on the other
hand it is "like the dawn spread upon mountains." After
the darkness, the morning light will break "the morning
without clouds" (2 Sam. xxiii:4).

2. The Invading Army from the North: Verses S-IL
Many armies in past history have occupied the land of
Israel and wasted it, but here is the coming great invasion
from the North. This invasion is mentioned in the Prophet
Isaiah also. The Assyrian who came in Isaiah's day to take
Jerusalem is the type of the final Assyrian who threatens
the land and the people with destruction. He is also pre-
figured by Antiochus Epiphanes, who came into the land of
Israel as the predicted little horn, rising from one of the divi-
sions of the Graeco-Macedonian Empire (Dan. viii*).

This army of Israel's enemies finds the land like the garden
Vof Eden; it has been restored through political Zionism,
irrigated and cultivated. The Jews are at it now, deter-
mined to make Palestine the garden-spot of the world, their
Eden, as it has been said. Then comes the rude awakening.
They thought themselves safe; they dreamed that their
plans they had made without trusting in the Lord and with-
out true repentance, had fully succeeded. But now the
greatest trouble of their long history of blood and tears is
at hand. The land is once more stripped of its beauty.

*We refer the reader to our larger works on Daniel, Joel and the
Harmony of the Prophetic Word. In the exposition of Joel a full
explanation of this invading army is given on pages 91-104.

THE PROPHET JOEL 103

Before them the land is as the garden of Eden,
And behind them a desolate wilderness.
Yea, and nothing can escape them.

The Lord uses these destructive hosts to humble His
people, to show them that He is their help, when this great
calamity is upon them. The symbolical language here is
characteristic of other prophecies.

The earth trembleth before them;

The heavens shake.

The sun and the moon are darkened.

And the stars withdraw their shining

**********

For the Day of the Lord is great and very terrible.

Compare this with the following passages: Isa. xiii:13;
Hab. i:6, 12; Zech. xiv:3, 4).

3. The Repentance of the People and Cry for Help:
Verses 12-17. Here is the Lord calling to His people to
return unto Him with true repentance (compare with Hosea
v:15-vi:l). And during that great tribulation there will be
a truly penitent portion of the people who turn to Him
in the manner described in this chapter. It is this rem-
nant which will be saved in that day, while the impenitent
part will be cut off in judgment. Ezekiel xx:38 and Zech.
xiii:8-9 speak of this. What Moses spoke long ago now
takes place (Deut. xxx:l-4). The many prophetic prayers
recorded in the Psalms, as pointed out in the annotations of
that book, will then be offered up by this godly waiting rem-
nant (Psa. xliv:13-14, cxv:23, lxxix:9-10, etc.). This mourn-
ing and prayer for deliverance precedes the visible mani-
festation of the Lord in the day of His Coming. When at
last deliverance has come there will be another lamentation.
This is found in Zech. xii:9-14 and in Rev. i:7.

4. "Then!" The Great Change: Verses 18. "Then
Jehovah will be jealous for His land and will have pity on
His people." Here is the great change. Up to this point
we have seen nothing but calamity and judgments. Literal
locusts had devoured the land — the types of nations which

104 THE PROPHET JOEL

would prey upon the land. They came, and Jerusalem was
trodden down by the Gentiles. The times of the Gentiles
terminated in Jacob's trouble, out of which they are to be
saved (Jer. xxx:4). We saw their great repentance. Here
is the answer from above. When their power is completely
gone (Deut. xxxii:36), then will the Lord be jealous for His
land and pity His people. Often this little word "then"
is found in the prophetic Word marking the great change,
from Israel's past judgments and rejection to deliverance
and glory. The following passages should be carefully
examined and compared with the 18th verse here: Isa.
xiv:25, xxiv:23, xxxii:16, xxxv:5-6, lviii:8, 14, lx:5, lxvi:12;
Ezek. xxviii :25-26, etc.

The Lord's personal manifestation is not mentioned here.
The deliverance does not come apart from the second Com-
ing of our Lord. The entire prophetic Word bears witness
to this. "Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against
those nations as He fought in the day of battle. And His
feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which
is before Jerusalem" (Zech. xiv:3-4). "When the Lord shall
build up Zion, He shall appear in glory" (Psa. cii:16). "The
Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, He shall stir up jealousy
like a man of war; He shall cry, yea, roar; He shall prevail
against His enemies" (Lsa. xlii:13).

5. Promises of Restoration. The Early and Latter Rain:
Verses 19-27. Here is His gracious answer. He will bless
their land and make it fruitful once more, as it used to be,
the land flowing with milk and honey. It is foolish to spirit-
ualize the terms corn, new wine and oil. Yet it has been
done. One of the older commentators of this book says on
this verse about the corn, wine and oil, that it has been
fulfilled in the church. The corn he applies to the body of
Christ, the wine to the blood of Christ, and the oil to the
Spirit. Earthly blessings, such as belong to His earthly
people are exclusively in view. Then they shall be no longer
a reproach among the nations. Inasmuch as they are still
a reproach we know that this promise is still future in its
fulfillment. The One from the North will be overthrown

THE PROPHET JOEL 105

and pass away forever. That all this cannot mean the
Babylonian captivity and the small remnant which re-
turned to the land may be learned from the statement "no
longer" a reproach.

Because the Lord does all this they are commanded to
rejoice, the children of Zion, which does not mean a spiritual
Zion, but God's only true Zion. The early and the latter
rain is restored to the land. Of late this term, too, has been
strangely misapplied. It has been claimed that the early
and latter rain mean spiritual blessing. The early rain, it
is said, means the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit
was poured out, and the latter rain, these deluded people
tell us, is another Pentecost, a greater manifestation of the
Spirit. This latter rain, they teach, consists, according to
their conception, in a restoration of "pentecostal gifts" and
is especially evidenced in making strange sounds, which,
it is claimed, is the original gift of tongues. This unscrip-
tural teaching has led to all kinds of fanaticism and worse
things than that.

Nowhere in the Bible is there warrant for us to believe
that "the early and latter rain" has a spiritual significance.
To say that the earlj^ rain and the latter rain typify bless-
ings and manifestations of the Spirit of God, peculiar to
the opening of this present age and to its close is extremely
fanciful and cannot be verified by the Scriptures. It is
strange that even men who seem to possess considerable
light have endorsed this kind of exposition, which has
worked such harm among so many Christian people. There
is absolutely no prediction anywhere in the New Testament
that the present age is to close with "a latter rain" experi-
ence, a time when the Holy Spirit is poured out and that in
greater measure. This age, according to divine revelation,
ends in apostasy and complete departure from God and His
truth (2 Thess. ii:3-12). After the Holy Spirit came on the
day of Pentecost, for the formation of the church, the body
of Christ, there is nowhere to be found a promise in the
church epistles that another outpouring is to take place, by
which a part of the church is to get into possession again

106 THE PROPHET JOEL

of the different sign gifts. The enemy of souls has made
good use of these distorted teachings to bring in his most
subtle delusions.

The rain has altogether a literal meaning. Read carefully
the following passages for a confirmation: Lev. xxxvi:4;
Deut. xi:14-17; 1 Kings viii:33-35 and Jer. iii:5.

Then all the harm done by the locusts, the army the Lord
used in judging His people, will be restored. "And My
people shall never be ashamed" (verse 27). This again is
sufficient proof that all this remains unfulfilled.

6. The Outpouring of the Spkit Upon All Flesh: Verses
28-32. This interesting passage invites our closest atten-
tion. The almost general interpretation of this prophecy
has been that it found its fulfilment on the day of Pentecost,
when the Holy Spirit was poured forth. Most expositors
confine the fulfilment to that event while others claim that
Pentecost was only the beginning of the fulfilment and that
the event which occurred once continues to occur through-
out this Christian age. We quote from one of the best com-
mentaries. "But however certain it may be that the ful-
filment took place at the first Christian feast of Pentecost,
we must not stop at this one Pentecostal miracle. The ad-
dress of the Apostle Peter by no means requires this limita-
tion, but rather contains distinct indications that Peter
himself saw nothing more therein than the commencement
of the fulfilment, but a commencement indeed, which em-
braced the ultimate fulfilment, as the germ enfolds the tree;
for if not only the children of the apostles' contemporaries
but also those that were afar off — i. e., not foreign Jews, but
the far off heathen, were to participate in the gift of the
Holy Spirit, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which com-
menced on Pentecost must continue as long as the Lord
shall receive into His Kingdom those that are still standing
afar, i. e., until the fulness of the Gentiles shall have entered
the kingdom of God."

There is, however, no Scriptural foundation for the state-
ment that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit commenced
on Pentecost must continue throughout this present age.

THE PROPHET JOEL 107

The Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost. He was
poured out once, and nowhere in the New Testament is there
a continued or repeated outpouring of the Holy Spirit
promised. The difficulty with interpreting this great proph-
ecy of Joel of having been fulfilled on Pentecost and being
fulfilled throughout this age is that which follows in the
next two verses. Wonders in heaven and on earth, fire,
pillars of smoke, a darkened sun and a blood-red moon are
mentioned, and that in connection with the day of Jehovah,
which, as we have seen is the great theme of Joel's vision.
These words have been generally applied to the destruction
of Jerusalem, which followed the day of Pentecost. The
spiritualizing method has been fully brought into play to
overcome the difficulties the 30th and 31st verses raise. The
terrible day of Jehovah, it is claimed, is the destruction of
Jerusalem. Thus we read in the commentary of Patrick
and Lowth: "This (verse 30) and the following verse prin-
cipally point out the destruction of the city and the temple
of Jerusalem by the Romans, a judgment justly inflicted
upon the Jewish nation for their resisting the Holy Spirit
and contempt of the means of grace." We quote another
leading commentator on Joel ii:30, Dr. Clarke. He states:
"This refers to the fearful sights, dreadful portents and
destructive commotions by which the Jewish polity was
finally overthrown, and the Christian religion finally estab-
lished in the Roman empire. See how our Lord applies this
prophecy in Matthew xxiv:29 and the parallel texts." And
in verse 31 ("the sim shall be turned into darkness") Clarke
says "it means the Jewish polity, civil and ecclesiastical,
shall be entirely destroyed." Others give these words the
same spiritualized meaning. These learned doctors tell us
that Joel ii:30 and 31 relates to the destruction of the nation,
and the civil and ecclesiastical polity of the Jews! This is
a fair example of the havoc which a Bible interpretation
makes, which ignores the great dispensational facts revealed
in the Word of God. But inasmuch as the 32d verse, the
last verse in this second chapter of Joel, reveals that there
shall be deliverance in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem after

108 THE PROPHET JOEL

these signs and wonders, and the continuation of the proph-
ecy in the third chapter shows the judgment of the enemies
of the people Israel. God's ancient people, such interpre-
tations appear at once as fundamentally wrong.

It is strange that all these expositors use the word "ful-
filment" in connection with this prophecy, saying, that
Peter said that the day of Pentecost was the fulfilment of
what is written by Joel. But the Holy Spirit did not use
the word "fulfilment" at all. He purposely avoided such a
statement. In so many passages in the New Testament
we find the phrase "that it might be fulfilled," but in mak-
ing use of the prophecy in Acts, chapter ii, this phrase is
not used and instead of it we read that Peter said, "But
this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel" (Acts
ii:16). There is a great difference between this word and
an out and out declaration of the fulfilment of that passage.
Peter's words call the attention to the fact that something
like that which took place on the day of Pentecost had been
predicted by Joel, but his words do not claim that Joel's
prophecy was there and then fulfilled. Nor does He hint
at a continued fulfilment or coming fulfilment during this
present age. The chief purpose of the quotation of that
prophecy on the day of Pentecost was to point out to the
Jews, many of whom were scoffing, that the miraculous
thing which had happened so suddenly in their midst was
fully confirmed by what Joel had foretold would be the
effect of the outpouring of the Spirit. The outpouring of
the Holy Spirit had taken place, but not in the full sense as
given in the Prophecy of Joel. He came for a special pur-
pose, which was the formation of the Church and for this
purpose He is still on earth.

Without following the events on Pentecost and their
meaning it is evident from the entire prophecy, which pre-
cedes this predictioji of the outpouring of the Spirit, that
these words have never been fulfilled. We might briefly ask.
What is necessary according to the contents of this second
chapter in Joel, before this prophecy can be accomplished?
We just mention what we have already learned before in

THE PROPHET JOEL 109

our exposition. The people Israel must be partly restored
to their land, that great invasion from the North, bringing
such trouble to the land must have taken place, then there
must also have come the intervention of the Lord and He
must be jealous for His land and pity His people, then at
that time this great outpouring of the Spirit of God will
take place. It stands in the closest connection with the
restoration of Israel. The promises which are Israel's (Rom.
ix:4) may be grouped into two classes, those which pertain
to the land, earthly blessings and supremacy over the na-
tions, and spiritual blessings, such as knowing the Lord,
walking in His ways, being a kingdom of priests and proph-
ets. The earthly blessings are accomplished by the power
of Jehovah v/hen He is manifested as their deliverer and the
spiritual blessings will be conferred upon them by the out-
pouring of the Spirit.

The word "afterwards" with which this prophecy is intro-
duced refers to the same period of time as the phrase "in
the latter days," that is, the days when the Lord will redeem
His earthly people and be merciful to His land.

Therefore when the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pente-
cost it was not in fulfilment of Joel's prophecy. This proph-
ecy has never been fulfilled nor will it be fulfilled during this
present age, in which the Church is being formed, which is
the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. After this is accom-
plished the Lord will begin His relationship with His earthly
people, when He appears in His day then they will experi-
ence the fulfilment of this great prediction.

There are numerous passages in the Old Testament which
shed interesting light upon this future outpouring of the
Spirit (see Isa. xxxii:15, xHv:3-4, lix:19-21; Ezek. xxxvi:27-
28, xxxvii:14, xxxix:29).

7. Deliverance in Mount Zion and Jerusalem: Verse 32.
The great coming outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh
will result in salvation. It is blessedly true now that "who-
soever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved,"
but it will be also true in that day. The word our Lord
spoke, "Salvation is of the Jews" will find its largest fulfill-

110 THE PROPHET JOEL

merit. The nations will then be joined to the Lord in the
kingdom (Zech. ii:ll).

III. THE EVENTS OF THE DAY OF THE LORD;
ISRAEL'S ENEMIES JUDGED; THE KINGDOM
ESTABLISHED.

CHAPTER in

1. The Judgment of the Nations. 1-8.

2. The Preceding Warfare of the Nations and How it Ends. 9-16.

3. Jehovah in the Midst of His People. 17-21.

1. The Judgment of the Nations: Verses 1-8. The

first verse specifies the time when Jehovah will do what
He announces in the two verses which follow. It will be
in those days, in that time, when the captivity of Judah
and Jerusalem is brought back. Clearly then up to this
time this cannot yet have been, for the captivity of His
people is not yet ended. They are still scattered in the great
dispersion among the nations of the earth. The time is
future when the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem is brought
back. Israel, the ten tribes are not mentioned here, but
they are included in the prophecy; they will likewise be
brought back. Joel only mentions Judah, because His
prophecy was addressed to Judah and Jerusalem. The cap-
tivity, or dispersion, which is the same thing, of the people
Israel will not end till divine power accomplishes it accord-
ing to the many promises in the Word of God. And when
at last the heavens are silent no longer and Jehovah in His
power begins to fulfil His promises and their captivity ends,
it will mean judgment for the nations.

It is Jehovah HimseK who speaks, what He is going to do
in that day, when He arises and has mercy on Zion. "I will
also bring together all nations and will bring them down
into the valley of Jehoshapliat." How the Lord will bring
these nations together and then accomplish His purpose is
revealed in verses 9-12. ^^'e therefore pass it by for the
present till we reach the second part of this chapter. But
here is also the place mentioned where this great judgment

TEE PROPHET JOEL 111

of nations will be executed. It will be in the valley of
Jehoshaphat. The word means translated "Jehovah judges."
This name occurs elsewhere in the Word of God. King
Jehu was the son of Jehoshaphat and he was the son of
Nimshi (2 Kings ix:2). Significant names of the King who
had to judge, for Jehu means "He is Jehovah;" Jehoshaphat,
"Jehovah judges;" Nimshi, "Jehovah reveals."

In 2 Chronicles xx we read the account of King Jehosha-
phat's victory over hostile nations. But the place where
this took place is not the valley of Jehoshaphat, but it was
called "Berachah," that is blessing. We mention this for
some expositors have claimed that the place where King
Jehoshaphat brought judgment upon these nations is the
valley of which Joel speaks.

The valley of Jehoshaphat must be looked for in the imme-
diate vicinity of Jerusalem. It is generally placed in the
valley of the Kidron on the East of Jerusalem. It may not
yet be in existence. In Zechariah xiv we read of the same
events which are here predicted. When the Lord appears
His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives in that day.
The Mount of Olives will then cleave in the midst and there
will be formed a very great valley (Zech. xiv:4). This great
valley may be the valley where the Lord judges the nations.

In the valley of Jehoshaphat the Lord will deal with the
-nations and His judgment will be on account of His people
and heritage Israel. The nations scattered them and divided
His land. They treated His people like slaves, casting lots
for His people, sold a girl for wine and drank it.

The great sin of the nations, the Gentile world-powers,
is the sin against Israel. This is repeatedly mentioned by
God's prophets. The foundation of the judgment of the
nations of which our Lord speaks in Matthew xxv is likewise
the treatment of the Jew. Read also Psalms lxxix:l-3,
lxxxiii:l-6; Isaiah xxix:l-8; xxxiv:l-3; Jeremiah xxv:13-17;
Zechariah i:14-15, xii:2, 3.

In Joel's day such wickedness as described here of casting
lots for His people and selling boys and girls was partially
known. The Philistines had done this, as well as Tyre and

112 THE PROPHET JOEL

Sidon. But these words were fulfilled during the Baby-
lonian captivity and in that great dispersion which was
brought about by the Roman Empire. After the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem in the year 70 the very thing happened
spoken by the prophet. Nearly a million and a half of human
beings perished in Jerusalem and the land in that awful
warfare. Over 100,000 were taken prisoners. These him-
dred thousand Jews were disposed by Titus according to
Josephus in the following manner: "Those under seventeen
years of age were publicly sold; of the remainder, some were
executed immediately, some sent away to work in the
Egyptian mines (which was worse than death), some kept
for public shows to fight with wild beasts in all the chief
cities; only the tallest and most handsome were kept for the
triumphal procession in Rome." Jews were sold for so
small a price as a measure of barley; thousands were thus
disposed of. And what else could we add from the history
of centuries, the cruel and terrible persecutions God's heritage
suffered, the thousands and tens of thousands massacred,
tortured, outraged and sold as slaves. Have we not beheld
but recently similar horrors in Russia? And that history is
not yet finished. Outbreaks of hatred against the heritage
Israel are still to come and the time of Jacob's trouble soon
to come will eclipse all their former suffering. It will be a
time of trouble such as has not been from the beginning of
the world until now nor ever shall be (Matt. xxiv:21). The
day will come when the Lord will judge the nations for the
evil they have done. ^

2. The Preceding Warfare of the Nations and How it
Ends: Verses 9-16. This is a prophecy showing what pre-
cedes the judgment of these nations. The judgment hosts
of the Lord, the angels, are seen coming down, then He
appears in all His majesty, while sun and moon are darkened.
It is a great dramatic scene which the Spirit of God unfolds.
We arrange it, adding the difiPerent speakers, to bring out
its full value :

THE PROPHET JOEL 113

The Lord speaking:

Proclaim this among the nations:

Declare a war.

Arouse the mighty ones.

Let all the men of war draw near, let them come up!

Beat your ploughshares into swords.
And your pruning hooks into spears.
Let the weak say, I am strong.

Come together

All ye nations round about

Gather yourselves together.

The Prayer of the Prophet:

Thither cause thy mighty ones to come down,
O Jehovah!

The Lord speaking:

Let the nations arise and come up

To the valley of Jehoshaphat,

For there will I sit to judge all the nations round about.

The' Lord to His judgment hosts:

Put in the sickle.

For the harvest is ripe;

Come — Tread!

For the wine-press is full.

The vats overflow;

For their wickedness is great.

The Prophet beholding the gathering:

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!

For the day of Jehovah is at hand in the valley of decision.

The sun and the moon are darkened
And the stars withdraw their shining.

And Jehovah shall roar from Zion
And send forth His voice from Jerusalem;
And the heavens and the earth shall shake;
But Jehovah will be a refuge for His people
And a fortress for the sons of Israel.

114 TEE PROPHET JOEL

Throughout the prophetic Word we read that great
nations confederated will oppose God and His purposes
when this age closes. There will be a great Western con-
federacy, the restored Roman Empire (see annotations
Dan. ii and vii). There will also be a great Northeastern
alliance of nations. This is in view here. Consult Psalm
ii, lxviii:l-6; Isaiah xxix:l-8, xxxiv:l-3; Jeremiah xxiv:13-
17; Ezekiel xxxviii; Zechariah xii, xiv; and Revelation
xix:19. Judgment then falls upon these opposing nations.
The judgment is mentioned as reaping and treading the
winepress, the same as in Revelation xiv:14-20.

3. Jehovah in the midst of His People: Verses 17-21.
Like nearly all the other prophetic books Joel ends with
the vision of the kingdom and the Lord dwelling in the
midst of His people. He will appear in all His Glory.
Jehovah will be a refuge for His people. Then they will
come to that knowledge which they so long refused, that the
delivering Jehovah is their God. But the Jehovah who
appears there is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the
one who was in their midst and who was delivered by the
people to be crucified. What a day it will be when "They
will look upon Him whom they have pierced and mourn
for Him" (Zech. xii:10). He will dwell in Zion, the moun-
tain of Glory. The Glory from above will find a resting
place on that holy hill. There He will be enthroned as King
(Psa. ii:6). From there the glory will be spread over all
(Isa. iv:5-6; Psa. lxviii:16). "For the Lord hath chosen
Zion; He hath desired it for His habitation. This is my
rest forever; here will I dwell for I have desired it" (Psa.
cxxxii:13-14). It is the literal Zion and not something
spiritual. Even good expositors of the Bible have missed
the mark. One good commentator says: "For Zion or
Jerusalem is of course not the Jerusalem of the earthly
Palestine, but the sanctified and glorified city of the hving
God, in which the Lord will be eternally united with His
redeemed, sanctified and glorified church." Such exposi-
tion emanates from ignorance of God's purposes with His
earthly people and in not dividing the Word of Truth rightly.

THE PROPHET JOEL 115

Joel speaks also of the judgment which will fall upon
Egypt in that day. Isaiah also tells of judgment, but through
him we learn that Egypt will turn to the Lord and the Lord
will graciously heal Egypt (Isa. xix). Judah will abide for-
ever. His people will be cleansed. Jehovah, our ever blessed
Lord, will dwell in Zion. The happy and glorious state of
the land and the whole earth during the millennium is thus
tersely stated. For when He reigns there will be righteous-
ness and peace; glory will cover the earth as the waters
cover the deep. Thus ends the great vision of Joel, the son
of Pethuel, May the eye of faith behold these blessed
revelations and may we live in anticipation of what is soon
to be.

AMOS

The Prophet Amos

INTRODUCTION

A few years before the Prophet Hosea began to witness against the
apostasy of the house of Israel, the ten tribes, and announced the
coming judgment, there appeared in Bethel, the seat of idolatry a
peasant by name of Amos. He was not a citizen of the ten tribe
kingdom, but belonged to Tekoa, a small town in the south country
of Judah. We learn from the book that he was a herdman and a
gatherer of the fruit of the sycamore trees. Some have thought he
was a man of wealth, in possession of large flocks of sheep and herds
of cattle, but this cannot be confirmed. He was just an humble peasant
and while engaged in his calling, not being a prophet or the son of a
prophet, the Lord suddenly called him to leave his work and said
unto him "Go, prophesy unto my people Israel" (chapter vii:14-15).
Amos means "Bearer" or "Burden." In obedience to this command he
appeared in Bethel to discharge his prophetic duty and deliver the
messages of Jehovah to the people. It was a strange occurrence that
a prophet should come out of Judah to prophesy to Israel, it probably
attracted wide attention, for such a thing had never happened before
nor after. It greatly aroused Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, who
reported the case to Jeroboam, the king of Israel. The message the
priest sent to the king was the following: "Amos has conspired against
thee in the midst of the house of Israel, the land is not able to bear all
his words. For thus saith Amos, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and
Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their land" (vii:10).
Evidently the priest did not await the king's answer for he tried to
intimidate the prophet and drive him away, but Amos was a man of
courage, he boldly resisted the priest and announced the fate of the
priest and his family.

THE TIME OF HIS PROPHECY

There is no diflSculty connected with the age in which he prophesied.
This is stated in the opening verse of the book. "In the days of
Uzziah, King of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash,
King of Israel, two years before the earthquake." Jeroboam II became
king in the fifteenth year of the reign of Amaziah, King of Judah.
Jeroboam reigned forty-one years. As Amaziah reigned over Judah
twenty-nine years and was followed by Uzziah, Jeroboam's reign was
during fourteen years of Amaziah's reign and covered twenty-seven
years of Uzziah's reign. Amos' activity was during the period when
Uzziah was king in Judah, in the second half of Jeroboam's reign. The

120 THE PROPHET AMOS

earthquake which is mentioned, two years before which Amos began
his work, cannot be placed chronologically. It is also mentioned by
Zechariah (xiv:5). The time then is around 810-782 B. C. As we
have shown in the introduction to Joel, Amos knew Joel's prophecy,
because Joel preceded him by at least a half a century. Amos was
therefore somewhat earlier than Hosea and part of his ministry was
contemporary with Hosea.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF HIS TIMES

Under the reign of Jeroboam II the northern kingdom of Israel
flourished as never before nor after. There was a great external pros-
perity. Therefore, we find that the prophet mentions the rich, their
great wealth and luxury, their arrogant pride and self-security and the
oppression of the poor. Underneath it all was an awful moral corruption,
the fruit of the false worship. In this state of prosperity, immorality
and false worship they did not dream of any coming calamity whatever.
Such were the days in which the herdman of Tekoa appeared upon the
scene to give an inspired testimony against the nation.

THE STYLE OF AMOS

Attention has been called to the fact that the prophet's style and
composition shows the former herdman in the use of certain words and
in many figures and similes drawn from nature and rural life. But he
also shows a very close acquaintance with the Mosiac law and the history
of the people to whom he belonged. The style also shows great rhetor-
ical power, great depths of thought, and truly poetic expressions.

"Amos expressed his thoughts in words taken from the great picture
book of nature, which, being also written by the hand of God, so
wonderfully expresses the things of God. Scarcely any prophet is more
glowing in style, or combines more wonderfully the natural and the
moral world, the Omnipotence and Omniscience of God" (Dr. Pusey).
Augustinus selected Amos as an illustration of unadorned eloquence.
And another learned scholar speaks of him thus, "Let any fair judge
read his writings, thinking not who wrote them, but what he wrote, and
he will come to the conclusion that this herdman is in no wise behind
the very chief est prophets; in the loftiness of his thoughts and the
magnificence of his spirit, nearly equal to the highest; and in the splendor
of his diction and the elegance of the composition scarcely inferior to
any" (Bishop Lowth, "De Poesi Sacra").

He gives us a splendid example of inspiration. The Lord called him,
gave him the message, filled the simple herdman with the wisdom from
above so that he burst out in these eloquent utterances. At the same
time the Lord in using him as His mouthpiece did not set aside his
personality, he uses his shepherd idiom, and the Truth of God is ex-

THE PROPHET AMOS 121

pressed through him in the terms of nature, with which he, as a child of
nature, was so familiar.

THE MESSAGE OF AMOS

The message concerns chiefly Israel, the ten tribe kingdom, their
spiritual and moral condition, yet Judah is also noticed by him, as well
as the different nations, surrounding Israel, their Gentile enemies. The
book consists of the prophecies he uttered in Bethel, which follow the
two introductory chapters. The people are reproved and their sins
uncovered; judgment for them and for the nations is announced. The
end of the book brings in the promise of deliverance and restoration.
The great prophecy in the ninth chapter (ix:ll-12) was quoted by James
in the 6rst great church-council in Jerusalem (Acts xv).

122 THE PROPHET AMOS

The Division of the Book of Amos

The Book of Amos consists of three parts. The first part
comprises the two opening chapters which form the intro-
duction to the book. In them we find the judgments an-
nounced in store for the nations surrounding Israel, but
Judah and Israel are also included.

From the third chapter to the end of the sixth is the
second part. Here are recorded four prophecies given by
the Lord through Amos. Three of them begin with "Hear
this Word" and the last in chapter six begins with "Woe."
The third part, chapters seven to nine, give the five
visions which Amos had. The first two judgment visions
were not carried out on account of the intercession of the
prophet. The third vision is that of the plumb-line; the
fourth, the vision of the basket with ripe fruit. In the last
vision he beheld the Lord standing alongside of the altar,
ready to smite. The conclusion of the ninth chapter is a
prophecy concerning the restoration of Israel, the rebuilding
of the tabernacle of David and the blessings of the Kingdom.
We follow this division.

L JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS, JUDAH AND
ISRAEL. Chapters i-ii.

n. THE PROPHETIC MESSAGES UNCOVERING
THE CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. Chapters
iii-vi.

ffl. THE nVE VISIONS OF THE PROPHET. Chapters
vii-ix.

THE PROPHET AMOS 123

Analysis and Annotations

I. JUDGMENT ANNOUNCED AGAINST THE NA-
TIONS, JUDAH AND ISRAEL

Chapters i-11
CHAPTER I

1. The Introduction. 1-2.

2. Damascus. 3-5.

3. Philistia. 6-8.

4. Tyre. 9-10.

5. Edom. 11-12.

6. Ammon. 13 15.

1. The Introduction. It has been pointed out that Amos
does not say Hke so many of the other prophets, "the Word
of the Lord which came unto me," but he begins his proph-
ecy with the statement "the words of Amos." The fact of
divine inspiration, however, is expressed in the next words,
"which he saw." His messages, Uke the messages of all the
prophets, were given to him in vision. As stated in the
general introduction to this book, this first verse determines
the exact time when the herdman of Tekoa appeared with
his message. The earthquake mentioned must have been a
disastrous one, for there was a great flight of people (see
Zech. xiv:5).

Then follows his first utterance which Joel recorded in his
prophecy, "the Lord roars out of Zion." Inasmuch as Joel
prophesied in Judah and Amos appeared from Judah in
Bethel of the ten tribe kingdom, this sentence of coming
judgment was probably unknown to his hearers. He sounded
the alarm at once as to the coming judgment on account of
which the shepherds would mourn and the beautiful, luxuri-
ous Carmel would wither; it would bring disaster upon all.

2. Damascus: Verses 3-5. Six nations are mentioned
against which judgment is announced, five in this chapter

124 THE PROPHET AMOS

and Moab in the beginning of the second. Eight times we
read "saith the Lord." Then in each judgment prediction
we find the phrase, "for three transgressions or four . . .
I will not reverse it." The meaning of it is that the measure
is full and that the judgment cannot be averted. Fire is
prominently mentioned as the mode of judgment. These
nations were the enemies of Israel. The Syrians were the
great enemies of Israel and treated them with awful cruel-
ties. The threshing of Gilead with iron instruments took
place when Hazael of Damascus conquered the land east
of Jordan (2 Kings x:32-33; xiii:7). Hazael murdered Ben-
hadad and EUsha predicted all the horrible things he would do
to Israel. When the Man of God wept and Hazael asked him
the reason, Elisha answered, "Because I know the evil that
thou wilt do unto the children of Israel; their strongholds
wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay
with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their
women with child" (2 Kings viii:12). Damascus was broken
and the predicted judgment came. It was executed through
the King of Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser, who drove the Syrians
back to Kir, from which they had come (2 Kings xvi:9).

3. Philistia: Verses 6-8. Philistia is represented by
Gaza. They also mistreated Israel and sold them into the
hands of Edom (2 Chron. xxi:16). The cities of PhiUstia,
Gaza and its palaces would be consumed by fire. There
would be an end to the Philistines, "the remnant of the
Philistines shall perish saith the Lord."

4. Tyre: Verses 9-10. Tyrus, the capital of Phoenicia,
had also sinned against Israel by delivering them into the
hands of their great enemy Edom. Their sin was especially
heinous because David and Solomon had made a covenant
with the King of Tyre, hence no king of Judah or Israel had
ever warred against Tyre (2 Sam. v:ll; 1 Kings v:15).

5. Edom: Verses 11-12. Edom was closely related to
Israel, yet they hated more than the heathen nations hated
Israel. At every opportunity Edom expressed this hatred
by deeds of cruelty, ^^^^at an awful record! "He did pursue
his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his

THE PROPHET AMOS 125

anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever."
In Obadiah we find more concerning Edom.

6. Ammon: Verses 13-15. Wicked Ammon had tried
to exterminate the people for selfish reasons "to enlarge
their border." What horrible deeds to rip open women
with child! Nor is this confined to the barbarous warfare
of 3,000 years ago; the same was done in other wars down
to our own days. Judgment would overtake them also.

In meditating on these terse judgment messages we must
remember while these nations of the past have ceased exist-
ing as nations, and the predicted judgment came long ago,
that these nations are typical of the other nations, who also
sin against Israel and whose judgment will come "in that
day."

CHAPTER n

1. Moab. 1-3.

2. Judah. 4-5.

3. Israel. 6-16.

1. Moab: Verses 1-3. So fierce was the hatred of Moab
that they dishonored the bones of the king of Edom. "Moab
burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime" (see 2 Kings
iii:26-27). The fire of judgment came upon Moab and her
glory, too, departed like the glory of the other nations.

2. Judah: Verses 4-5. While the measure was full of
these nations, who had heaped transgressions upon trans-
gressions, Judah and Israel were as guilty, yea, even more
guilty, than these nations. The same significant phrase
"for three transgressions and four" is used in connection
with both. If the punishment of the nations could not be
held back, but had to come, so Judah and Israel could not
escape. Judah's sin was the rejection of the law of the Lord;
instead of listening to the voice of the Lord and to His
prophets, they harkened to the false prophets, who, with
their lies, caused them to err, and the children walked in the
evil footsteps of their fathers. The sin of Judah was apos-
tasy. That is the great sin today among the professing

126 THE PROPHET AMOS

people of God, Christendom. Fire was to devour the cities
and palaces of the nations and fire was to come upon Judah
and the palaces of Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar fulfilled this
prophecy.

3. Israel: Verses 6-16. Inasmuch as Amos was sent to
Israel the indictment and judgment of them occupies more
space than the rest. Verses 6-8 give a description of their
sins. The poor suffered through their coveteousness, they
lived in unspeakable vileness, they were idolatrous. Those
who were condemned by judges and paid their fines fur-
nished the money to the judges to buy wine for their heathen-
ish orgies.

Then the Lord reminds them of all His mercies and lov-
ing kindness in the past. He destroyed the Amorite; He
led them through the wilderness to possess the land. He
instituted the Nazarite. In spite of all these manifold
mercies they continued in their evil ways, grinding the poor,
defying God and His law and in their moral depravity

"Behold, I will press you down

As the full cart presses the sheaves.
Then shall flight be lost to the swift.

And the strong shall not confirm his strength.

And the hero shall not save his life.
He that beareth the bow shall not stand.

And the swift-footed shall not save,

And the rider of the horse shall not save his life.'

II. THE PROPHETIC MESSAGES UNCOVERING THE
CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE

Chapters iii-vi

CHAPTER in
The First Discourse

1. There is Cause for Judgment. 1-8.

2. The Coming Judgment Visitation. 9-15.

TEE PROPHET AMOS 127

1. There is Cause for Judgment: Verses 1-8. "Hear
this word that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children
of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from
the land of Egypt, saying, You have I only known of all
the families of the earth, therefore will I punish you for all
your iniquities." This is the solemn beginning of the special
messages addressed to the nation by the humble herdman
of Tekoa. The Lord had singled them out from the other
nations. He had separated them unto Himself. With His
mighty power and outstretched arm He had delivered them
from the house of bondage and brought them to the land
promised unto their fathers. He had revealed Himself and
made known His will to them exclusively. He had entered
with them into covenant and called them to be a kingdom
of priests and a holy nation (Exod. xix:6). Hence their
responsibility was very great, for the degree of relationship
is always the degree of responsibility. The divine election
of the twelve tribes does not insure against punishment,
but that intimate relationship into which the Lord had
entered with Israel broken and violated by sin, demanded a
correspondingly great punishment. To whomsoever much
is given of him shall much be required. Our Lord expressed
the same truth in Matthew xi when he denounced the cities
in which great miracles had been done and they believed
not and declared that it shall be more tolerable for Tyre
and Sidon in the day of judgment than for them.

To demonstrate the rightful cause of judgment Amos
speaks now in a number of brief similes. There are six of
them in the form of questions. "Can two walk together,
except they be agreed.'*" Fellowship is only possible on
the ground of separation; a holy God demands a holy
people. In their state of licentious idolatry and gross in-
justice the Lord could not own them. Then follow brief
questions indicating that which would happen to them.
Like a roaring lion, or a young lion, the Lord would come
upon them. They will be caught in a snare and a trap.
The blowing of the trumpet denotes that evil was to come
upon them. "Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord

128 THE PROPHET AMOS

has not done it?" It is hard to believe that certain men
have taken this statement and teach on account of it that
God is the author of moral evil — of sin. The context shows
that this is not in view here at all. A holy God who cannot
be tempted with evil, who is light and in whom there is no
darkness at all, does not put moral evil in the world. The
evil is of a punitive character such as invasion by hostile
forces, the sword, the famine and the pestilence.

And the Lord Jehovah will do nothing, but He reveal-
eth His secrets unto His servants, the prophets. These
secrets are made known to us in the prophetic Word and
not, as some claim, in special visions. The Spirit of God,
the author of the Word, shows to God's people in His Word
things to come (John xv:15; 1 Cor. ii:10-16). The result of
such knowledge of the secrets of the I^ord concerning the
future is stated in 2 Peter iii:17, "Ye therefore, beloved,
seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also,
being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your
own steadfastness" (see also 2 Peter iii:14).

2. The Coming Judgment Visitation: Verses 9-15. This
paragraph begins with a striking call. The speaker is the
Lord and He addresses the prophets and commands them to
cry in the palaces of Ashdod (Philistia) and in Egypt so that
they may see and know the wicked acts of Samaria, and
thus bear witness against Israel. Thus the Lord exposed
them to their enemies. Then the coming adversary is an-
nounced who would encircle the land and humiliate the
proud nation, so that her palaces would be spoiled. Then
the herdman speaks in a parable familiar to him from his
life as a shepherd. When the beast of prey devours a sheep
the shepherd must bring proof of it, so he is anxious to re-
cover a part of the slain animal and tries to snatch away
from the devouring lion either the legs of the sheep, or even
a small piece of the ear, so as to show the rest was eaten
by the lion. Such would be the case with the people in their
luxurious living, and only a small remnant is to escape the
coming slaughter by the lion, the Gentile world power. The
transgressions of Israel will be visited; the idol altars of

THE PROPHET AMOS 129

Bethel will be overthrown in that visitation and all their
prosperity and luxury would then end and instead of living
in winter and summer houses, they would become homeless.

CHAPTER IV
The Second Discourse

1. Divine Threatening and Irony. 1-5.

2. Yet Have Ye Not Returned Unto Me. 6-11.
S. Prepare to Meet Thy God. 12-13.

1. Divine Threatening and Irony: Verses 1-5. The

prophet addresses them as "kine of Bashan, that are in the
mountain of Samaria." The cows of Bashan were noted
for their slick and well fed condition, feeding on the choicest
of pasture. The term is descriptive of Israel's prosperous con-
dition as well as their beastly character. They were selfish
and cruel, for they oppressed the poor and crushed the
needy. It seems that women are mostly here in view, which
explains the fact that the comparison is with kine and not
with bulls. They asked their masters to supply them means
for debauchery. But what happens to dumb cattle would
happen to them in their luxurious and selfish life. They
would be taken with hooks and their posterity with fish-
hooks, and they would be taken away. The last sentence of
verse 3 is correctly translated "Ye shall be cast away to
Har (mountain) Monah." It has been surmised that this
means Armenia.

Then follows a statement of bitter irony. "Go to Bethel
and sin; at Gilgal multiply transgression." Go on in your
idolatry in these sacred places of your past history! In
Bethel the Lord had revealed Himself to their progenitor
Jacob; in Gilgal on the banks of the Jordan, the reproach
of Egypt had been rolled away (Joshua v), and these favored
places were now the scenes of their wicked idolatries. It is
also mockery when the prophet says, "Offer a sacrifice of
thanksgiving with leaven," for leaven always typifies sin.

2. Yet Have Ye Not Returned Unto Me: Verses 6-11.
The Lord had sent different chastisements upon them at
different times. There had been famines, drought; yea, it

130 THE PROPHET AMOS

had rained here and there, while plots of ground received
rain others remained parched, so that they might recognize
in it the hand of God. He smote them with mildew and
blasting; the locusts came and devoured vegetation; there
were frightful pestilences and other judgments, but they did
not return unto Him. Five times in this paragraph we find
the same statement, "Ye^ have ye not returned unto Me."
They were an impenitent nation and hardened their hearts
as Pharaoh did. They were incorrigible, though they knew
that through His mercy they were "as a firebrand plucked
out of the burning."

In the book of Revelation we read of a similar condition
in the coming days when the Lord deals with the earth in
the decreed and revealed judgments. It is written that the
inhabiters of the earth, in spite of these judgments falling
upon the earth, do not repent of their sins.

4. Prepare to Meet Thy God: Verses 12-13. And now
they were to come face to face with Himself as the Judge.

CHAPTER V
The Third Discourse

1. The Lamentation. 1-3.

2. Seek the Lord and Ye Shall Live. 4-15.

3. The Wailing. 16-20.

4. The Captivity Announced. 21-27.

1. The* Lamentation: Verses 1-3. This chapter begins
with a lamentation over the fallen daughter of Israel. "She
shall no more rise" has been used as an argument against
the future and literal restoration of Israel. The prophet
has only the present government of God over that genera-
tion in view and does not deny at all a future rising as so
abundantly predicted in the prophetic Word. "There is
none to raise her up," nor could she raise herself up. But
the day will come when the Lord in grace will raise her.

2. Seek the Lord and Ye Shall Live: Verses 4-15. Here
the Lord entreats Israel once more to desist from her idola-
trous way and to seek Him instead of the worship at Bethel

THE PROPHET AMOS 131

and Gilgal, for judgment would surely be executed there.
"Seek ye Me and ye shall live." Then again, "Seek the
Lord and ye shall live," and in case of disobedience He,
whom they refused, would fall like fire upon the house of
Joseph. The house of Joseph is mentioned because the
tribe of Ephraim was the most powerful tribe in the king-
dom of Israel, and Joseph was the father of Ephraim. Again
they are told to seek Him "Who maketh the seven stars
(the Pleiades) and Orion." These two great constellations
were well known to the ancients (see Job ix:9 and xxxviii:31).
And He also turneth the shadow of death into morning and
darkeneth day to night. This is an illustration of the
judicial actions of the Lord. As in nature He turns night
into day, and the day into dark night, so He turns the deep-
est misery and sorrow into joy and happiness, and changes
the bright day of prosperity into the night of woe and dis-
aster. He is the Lord of judgment, who controls the waters
of tribulation and wrath, the floods of judgment, and makes
them pass over the earth.

Verses 10-13 give a description of the moral condition of
Israel. They were unrighteous and loved the ways of un-
righteousness; if the judge in the gate judged righteously
they hated him for it, those who spoke uprightly they ab-
horred. The poor they trampled into the dust and extorted
the distribution of corn from them. They had built fine
houses of hewn stone, but they were not to enjoy them
nor the wine from their pleasant vineyards (see Deut.
xxviii:30, 39). The Lord knew their transgressions and the
greatness of their sins.

Still there was hope, for the Lord is merciful and slow to
anger. Judgment is His strange work. Therefore once more
we hear His pleadings, "Seek good and not evil that ye may
live, and so the Lord God of hosts shall be with you, as ye
have spoken." "Hate evil and love good!"

3. The Wailing: Verses 16-20. As judgment comes there
shall be wailing in the streets, wailing with the husbandman,
and there will be wailing in all vineyards as the Lord passes
through in His judgment. "For I will pass through thee"

132 TEE PROPHET AMOS

reminds us of Egypt in the Passover night when the Lord
passed through Egj'^pt to smite. And now the death wail
was soon to be heard in the midst of His people.

And still another evil was in their midst. Some of them
brazenly desired the announced "Day of the Lord," the daj^
of His manifestation to come. It originated in their false
boast that they are the covenant people. They knew from
the former prophets that the day of the Lord would rid them
of their enemies, then Israel would be fully redeemed and
blest and the Lord's glory would be manifested in the sight
of the nations. Such was Joel's vision concerning "that
day." Such was there false hope while they lived on in sin.
But the herdman, Amos, pronounced a woe upon them for
desiring that day. \Miat good will that day be to the im-
penitent nation.'' It is a day of darkness and not light.
Then follows a parable such as a child of nature, as Amos
was, would make. He describes a man who flees from a
lion and fortunately escapes; but then he meets a bear;
him he escapes likewise. Exhausted he reaches his house,
and like one about to faint, he leans his hand on the wall; a
small serpent out of the crevice bites him and he perishes
miserably. So would be the day of the Lord overtake
them. How different it is with the true believer. He
desires, not the Day of the Lord, but the Coming of Him,
who has promised His own, "I will come again and receive
you imto myself, that where I am ye may be also."

4. The Captivity Announced: Verse 21-27. The Lord
despised their outv/ard worship; their feast days and dif-
ferent offerings were not well pleasing in His sight. It was
all a hollow pretense of honoring Him, and all their songs
were hateful to Him.

But this departure from Him was not a new thing in their
history. They were always a stiffnecked people. Even in
the wilderness did they not bring Him sacrifices and offerings,
but instead they bore the tabernacle of Moloch and Chium
(or the booth of your king and the pedestal of your images,
the star of your gods). Then follows the verdict, "Therefore

THE PROPHET AMOS 133

will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith
the Lord, whose name is the God of Hosts."

CHAPTER VI
The Fourth Discourse

1, Woe to Them That Are at Ease in Zion. 1-6.

2. The Punishment Announced. 7-14.

1. Woe to Them That Are at Ease in Zion: Verse 1-6.

This woe concerns the great men, the chiefs of the nation,
who were sunk into a godless self-security, and dreamt on
in their darkness, while the clouds of judgment were gathering
above them. They were to go from Calneh to Hamath and
then down to Gath of the Philistines. Calneh was built by
Nimrod in the land of Shinar (Genesis x:10); Hamath was
the capital of a Syrian kingdom, and Gath the center of
Philistia. These places were the places of vileness and
corruption. But were the kingdoms of both Judah and
Israel any better than these?

^Vhile some desired the day of the Lord others put it far
off, they refused to believe that judgment was impending.
It was so in Ezekiel's time when the people said "The days
are prolonged and every vision faileth" (Ezekiel xii :22) , So
it is in Christendom. The evil servant (Matthew xxiv) says
"My Lord delayeth his coming," and as a result he acts out-
rageously. What were the results in Israel when the evil
day was put far off? They committed violence; violence
increased in the land. They lived luxuriously on beds of
ivory and ate the best of the flock. They danced and made
merry; they drank wine but none was exercised over the
hurt of Joseph, the spiritual condition of the people.

2. The Punishment annomiced: Verse 7-14. They were
now to go away as captives. There should be utter deso-
lation. There would be a multitude of dead, so that they
could not follow their ancient custom in burying them; they
would have to burn them. Then the one who burns the
corpses asks the last person in the house whether there is

134 TEE PROPHET AMOS

any one still with him, and the answer is No, but keep
silence! For the name of the Lord is not to be invoked. It
means that the speaker fears that the other one might
mention the name of the Lord and in doing so bring down
upon himself an additional judgment. Everything is to be
smitten. What they had done could no more secure blessing
and salvation than horses could run upon a rock and one
plowing upon a rock with oxen. The nation which is
announced in the last verse is the Assyrian.

III. THE FIVE VISIONS OF THE PROPHET.

Chapter vii-ix.

CHAPTER VII

Three Visions and the Opposition Against Amos

1. The Vision of Locusts. 1-3.

2. The Vision Concerning the Fire. 4-6.

3. The Vision of the Plumbline. 7-9.

4. Opposition Against Amos. 10-17.

1. The Vision of Locusts: Verse 1-3. In the first vision
Amos saw how the Lord prepared locusts (not grasshoppers
as in the A. V.). They started in with their destructive
work, just as they did in the days of Joel. Then Amos
interceded in behalf of the sinful nation, "O Lord, God,
forgive, I beseech Thee, by whom shall Jacob rise for he is
small?" He confessed and pleaded forgiveness, acknowledg-
ing their helplessness. With such a spirit the Lord is well
pleased and the praying prophet received the answer from
the Lord, "It shall not be."

2. The Vision Concerning the Fire: Verse 4-6. He beheld
a furious fire sweeping everything before itself so that it even
devoured the great deep, the floods of water. This rep-
resents a more severe judgment than the previous one.
This judgment also was kept back by the intercession of the
prophet. But when the time came for judgment by the
Assyrian, symbolized by the locusts and the fire, no in-
tercession could change it. Tiglath-Pileser and Shalam-

THE PROPHET AMOS 135

aneser finally made an end of the sinful ten tribe kingdom.

3. The Vision of the Plumbline: Verse 7-9. He saw the

Lord standing upon a wall with the plumbline to see if the
wall was straight. The test by God's Word and God's holy
law shows that all is crooked and must be condemned.
Therefore, the announcement, "I shall pass by it no more.
And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the
sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise
against the house of Jeroboam with the sword." The false
worship and the monarchy in Israel will be completely swept
away by the judgment.

4. Opposition Against Amos: Verse 10-17. This is an in-
teresting and instructive occurrence. Amaziah, the apostate
priest at Bethel, who had charge of the idol worship, accused
the prophet falsely before King Jeroboam. It was a religious
political accusation. Thus the enemy accused Jeremiah also
(Jeremiah xxxvii:14-15); he did the same with our Lord and
His apostles. At the same time Amaziah, the priest, sent an
insulting message to Amos, saying, "Seer, go and flee into
the land of Judah, and eat there thy bread; there thou may-
est prophesy." He tried to intimidate him, urging him to
return to Tekoa in Judah where he came from. He received
a courageous answer from the herdman-prophet. "I am no
prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdman and a
gatherer of sycamore fruit. The Lord took me from fol-
lowing the flock; He said unto me. Go and prophesy to my
people Israel."

The insinuation was that Amos prophesied for the sake of
a living. Amos refutes the false charge and then announced
the doom of the false priest and the doom of his family,

CHAPTER VIII

The Fourth Vision; The Basket With Summer Fruit

1. The Vision. 1-3.

2. Israel Ripe For Judgment. 4-10.

S. The Coming Days of Famine. 11-14.

1. The Vision: Verse 1-3. In his fourth vision the

136 THE PROPHET AMOS

prophet beholds a basket of summer fruit. The Hebrew
shows that it was a basket filled with ripe fruit. The ripe
fruit is a symbol that Israel was ripe for the harvest of
judgment. The message of the Lord to the prophet is, "The
end is come upon my people Israel; I will not again pass by
them any more." The songs would be changed into howling
lamentations and many should be slain.

2. Israel Ripe For Judgment. Verse 4-10. Once more the
wealthy and prosperous portion of the nation is addressed,
their sinful practices are exposed and it is shown that they
were ripe for judgment. The rich oppressed the poor; they
took away from the poor what belonged rightfully to them.
They cheated by making the measure small and increased
the price. They were the profiteers of that time. They also
used false balances. Then they sold the refuse of the wheat.
All may be compared with James v:l-6 where the same con-
ditions are pictured, prevailing in Christendom, before the
Lord comes. For all this they did the land would have to
tremble and every one mourn.

"And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God,
that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will
darken the earth in the clear day." Much nonsense has been
written on this verse especially from the side of the Ad-
ventists, as if there has been at a certain time "a dark day"
in fulfillment of this prophecy. Some expositors have made
of it a mere eclipse of the sun. The verse, while it has a
certain application to that generation, whose glory should end
like the sun going down at noon, has its final meaning in the
coming day of the Lord, which all the prophets announced.
It is the same our Lord predicts in Matthew xxiv:29-30.
For Israel the bitter day of mourning, lamentation and woe
would come.

3. The Coming Days of Famine: Verse 11-14. A great
famine is announced. It is not to be a famine for bread, or
thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the
Lord. His word and the hght of His revelation is to be
completely withdrawn from them. The Word of the Lord
which they despised they would then desire to seek in vain.

THE PROPHET AMOS 137

They will wander hither and thither from sea to sea, from the
north to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the
Word of the Lord and shall not find it. Such was the case
with them when the cruel Assyrian power took hold on them
and carried them away. Such a judgment too is fast
approaching for Christendom which in its apostasy rejects
the Word of the Lord, turns to fables, till the day comes when
the Spirit will leave and as a result there will be a famine of
the Word, no comfort and no help for those who are ripe
for judgment.

CHAPTER IX
The Passing of a Kingdom and the Coming of the Kingdom

1. The Fifth Vision. The Passing of a Kingdom. 1-10.

2. The Coming of the Kingdom. 11-15.

\. The Fifth Vision. The Passing of a Kingdom: Verses
1-10. In his fifth vision the prophet saw the Lord standing
by the altar. He utters His word. The description of what
is to take place is very vivid. He stands by the altar and
the people are assembled before Him. He smites the lintel
of the door, so that everything trembles and the building
falls upon them, cutting all of them in the head and none
can escape. Even if they break into sheol (not hell, but the
world of spirits in the miknown regions), from thence His
hand will take them; if they climb into heaven. He would
bring them down. If they hide themselves on the top of
Carmel He would search for them and take them out. If
they conceal themselves from His sight in the bottom of the
sea, He would command the serpent to bite them. It is to
be an all consuming judgment with no possibility of escape.

Even as they went into captivity the sword of judgment
would follow them. "Thence will I command the sword, and
it shall slay them; and I will set mine eyes upon them for
evil, and not for good." He is the Lord who has all power
to do this (verses 5-6). They had degraded themselves
down to the level of the heathen nations, hence they were
unto Him like the Ethiopians. Then He calls them "the

138 THE PROPHET AMOS

sinful kingdom." This kingdom is to pass away from the
face of the earth; there is no hope for its restoration. But
the Lord in mercy promises that the house of Jacob is not
utterly to be destroyed. In His own time He will assemble
the outcasts of Israel with dispersed Judah and lead them
back to their land. In the meantime they will be sifted
among all nations, as wheat is sifted in a sieve, but not the
least grain shall fall on the ground. The sinners of His
people will die by the sword.

M 2. The Coming of the Kingdom: Verses 11-15. While
the sinful kingdom, the ten tribe kingdom of Israel is passed
away and will never come into existence again, there is
another kingdom which will come, into which Judah and
Israel will be gathered with the nations of the earth. This
kingdom of heaven, promised to David, is now announced
by the prophet. "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of
David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and
I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of
old." This prophesy is quoted by James in Acts xv:15-16
at the first great church council held in Jerusalem. On that
occasion the Holy Spirit used the prophecy of Amos to un-
fold the program of God concerning the future. Yet there
is no church council, no General Conference, General Assem-
bly or General Association which reckons in any way with
that which the Spirit of God has laid down as the program
of the Future. We learn from the passage in Acts that
during this age the Gentiles are visited to gather out from
among them a people for His Name (the church). When
this is accomplished the Lord returns, and, as a result of
His return, the restoration of the tabernacle of David takes
place: that is, the kingdom will be restored to His people,
the Kingdom of heaven comes and the Lord Jesus Christ
will be enthroned as its king upon the throne of David.
Then the conversion of the world will take place.

This is seen here in the passage before us. Verse 12 tells
us that when the tabernacle of David is raised up, when
"that day" has come. His people restored and saved will
Possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations. The last

THE PROPHET AMOS 139

three verses of the prophecy of Amos describe the millen-
nium in its earthly blessings. It also shows the permanent
blessing and glory into which redeemed and restored Israel
has entered, "They shall no more be pulled up out of their
land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God."

OBADIAH

The Prophet Obadiah

INTRODUCTION

Of Obadiah we know nothing but his name, which means "Servant of
Jehovah." There are numerous men mentioned in the Old Testament
by that name, but it is impossible to identify any one of these with
Obadiah, or to trace him. "The silence of Holy Scriptures as to the
Prophet Obadiah stands in remarkable contrast with the anxiety of
men to know something of him. They hoped that Obadiah might
prove to have been the faithful protector of the prophets under Ahab;
or the son of the Shunamite, whom Elijah called to life, or the Obadiah
whom Jehoshaphat sent to teach in the cities of Judah, or the Levite
who was selected, with one other, to be the overseer set over the repair
of the temple in the reign of Josiah. Fruitless guesses at what God has
hidden! God has willed that his name alone and this brief prophecy
should be known in this world" (Dr. Pusey).

Inasmuch as nothing is known of this man of God, nor anything
stated under whose reign he uttered his prophecy, the guesses about
the time he lived are numerous and very contradictory. The critics
have assigned to Obadiah dates removed from each other by above
600 years. We quote again from Pusey's commentary: "The pun-
ishment of Edom the Prophet clearly foretells, as yet to come; the
destruction of Jerusalem, which, according to our version is spoken of
as past, is in reality foretold also. ITnbelief denies all prophecy.
Strange, that unbelief, denying the existence of a jewel — God's authentic
and authenticated voice to man — should trouble itself about the age
of the casket in which the jewel rests. Yet so it was. The Prophets
of Israel used a fascinating power over those who denied their in-
spiration. They denied prophecy, but employed themselves about the
Prophets. Unbelief denying prophecy had to find out two events in
history, which should correspond with these two events in this Prophet —
a capture of Jerusalem and a subsequent judgment of Edom. And
since Jerusalem was first taken under Shishak, king of Egypt, in the
fifth year of Rehoboam 970 B. C, and Josephus tells us that 301 B. C.
Ptolemy Lagus treacherously got possession of Jerusalem, unbelieving
criticism has a wide range in which to vacillate. And so it reeled to
and fro between these two periods, 970 B. C. and 301 B. C."

Obadiah does certainly not belong to the Prophets of the captivity,
nor to the post exilic Prophets. The position given to him in the
Hebrew arrangement of the prophetic books bears witness to that.
The internal evidence shows that he is one of the earliest Prophets, if
not the earliest. If we turn to Jeremiah xlix:7-22 we find a very striking
similarity between the words of Jeremiah and the words of Obadiah

144 THE PROPHET OBADIAH

concerning Edom. The question is whether Jeremiah used Obadiah's
words or Obadiah made use of Jeremiah's message. It has been
pointed out that it is a peculiar characteristic of Jeremiah that he often
leans upon the utterances of the earlier Prophets, and in his writing
their thoughts, words and symbols are often reproduced. Compare
Jeremiah xlvii with Isaiah xiv:28-32; Jeremiah xlvii with Isaiah xv and
xvi; Jeremiah xlix:l-6 with Amos i:13-15, etc. When we point out
this characteristic of the Book of Jeremiah we do not mean to say that
this man of God was a copyist, who slavishly copied the utterances of
the earlier prophets. He had the books, or scrolls, of the earlier
Prophets before himself and the Spirit of God led him to use them;
thus the Spirit of God repeated through Jeremiah the testimony of his
predecessors and confirmed their God-given utterances. Jeremiah
knew and possessed the prophecy of Obadiah, so that we can say with
certainty that Obadiah is earlier than Jeremiah.

Now, Obadiah in his utterance lays bare the wicked behavior of
Edom in a time when Judah and Jerusalem was plundered by hostile
forces. The statement of some of the critics that the eleventh verse
means only the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar is an
assumption. The fact is the Prophet does not speak of the destruction
of the city, but that Jerusalem was plundered.

Can this historically be located? There can be no question but it
must have reference to the time when the Philistines and the Arabs
invaded the city in the reign of King Jehoram. Then the Edomites
threw ofiF the Judean supremacy (2 Kings viii:20-22; 2 Chronicles
xxi:8-10). They also planned a great massacre of the Jews who were
in the land of Edom at that time (Joel iii:19; Amos i:2). It was then
that the treacherousness of Edom and its evil spirit became fully man-
ifested. But there can be no question, as we show in the annotations,
that the description of their evil spirit against their kin includes the
after history, the fall of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzer, the oppo-
sition of Edom during the times of the Maccabees and the future
revival and doom of Edom. It is, therefore, quite well established that
Obadiah lived and uttered his prophecy during the reign of Jehoram.

TEE PROPHET OBADIAH 145

Obadiah

(In a corrected version).

1. The Vision of Obadiah,

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning Edom:
We have heard tidings from Jehovah,
And an ambassador is sent among the nations.
Arise ye! Let us arise against her to battle!

i. Behold, I have made thee small among the nations;
Greatly art t' on despised!

3. The pride of thy heart has deceived thee,
Thou dweller in the clefts of the rock, in lofty

habitation;
Who saith in his heart:
Who will bring me down to the ground?

4. Though as high like the eagle.

And though thou hast made thy nest among the stars.
Thence will I bring thee down.
Whispers Jehovah.

5. If thieves came to thee.
If robbers by night —
How art thou destroyed!

Would they not steal until they had enough?
If grape gatherers had come unto thee.
Would they not leave some?

6. How is Edom searched out
[His hidden things laid bare!

7. Even to the border

Have all the men of the covenant sent thee;
They have deceived thee, prevailed against thee.
Those that were at peace with thee;
Thy bread have they placed as a snare under thee.
There is no unders'anding in h m.

8. Will not I in that day.
Whispers Jehovah,

Destroy the wise out of Edom,

And understanding out of mount Esau?

146 THE PROPHET OBADIAH

9. And thy valiant ones, O Teman, shall be dismaywd.
When every man is cut off from mount Esau
By slaughter.

10. For the violence of thy brother Jacob,
Shame shall cover thee.

And thou shalt be cut off forever.

11. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side.
In the day when strangers took captive his army
And foreigners entered his gates.

And o'er Jerusalem cast lots,
Thou also wast one of them.

12. And thou shouldest not have looked on the day of

thy brother.
On the day of his calamity;

Thou shouldest not have rejoiced over the sons of Judah
In the day of their destruction;
Nor spoken proudly in the day of distress.

IS. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my
people
In the day of their ruin.

Thou shouldest not have looked on his misfortune
In the day of his calamity.

And stretched not out thy hand for his possession
In the day of his destruction.

14. And thou shouldest not have stood at the cross-roads
To cut off his fugitives;

Neither shouldest thou have delivered up his remnant
In the day of Distress.

15. For near is the Day of Jehovah upon all nations.
As thou hast done will they do to thee;

Thy reward will be upon thy head.

16. For as ye have drunken on the mountain of my

holiness,
All the nations shall drink continually.
And drink and swallow down.
And be as though they had never been.

17. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance; there shall

be holiness;
And the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

THE PROPHET OBADIAH 147

18. And the house of Jacob shall be afir?.
And the house of Joseph a flame,
And the house of Esau for stubble;

And they will kindle upon them and devour them.
And there shall be none remaining of the house of Esau;
For Jehovah has spoken it.

19. And the South country shall possess the mountain of

Esau,
And the plain the Philistines;
And they shall possess the fields of Ephraim,
And the field of Samaria;
And Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

20. And the captives of this army of the children of Israel
Will possess of the Canaanites as far as Zarepath,
And the captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
Shall possess the cities of the South.

21. And Saviours shall go up on mount Zion,
To judge the mountain of Esau.

And the Kingdom shall be Jehovah's.

148 THE PROPHET OBADIAH

Analysis and Annotations

The brief prophecy of Obadiah is composed of two parts'
Verses 1-16 concern Edom and its destruction and verses
17-21 reveal the estabUshment of the Kingdom in Israel
and Israel's restoration and victory. We shall give brief
annotations to assist in the understanding of this prophecy
by making a threefold division:

1. Edom's Humiliation and Ruin (verses 1-9). 2. Edom's
Sin Against Israel and the Day of the Lord (verses 10-16).
3. The Kingdom and the Restoration of Israel (verses 17-21).

1. Edom's Humiliation and Ruin: Verses 1-9. In order
to understand Obadiah's prophecy, Edom's origin and his-
tory must be taken into consideration. The Edomites were
the oflFspring of Esau. Of him it was said that Esau the
Elder should serve Jacob the younger. The character of
Esau was soon manifested and his offspring soon became
powerful. In Genesis xxxvi we read of the generations of
Esau, who is Edom; there the dukes, the national chiefs,
are prominently mentioned. Long before Israel had kings,
Edom had such rulers, "And these are the kings that reigned
in the land of Edom before there reigned any king over the
children of Israel" (Gen. xxxvi :31). In Exodus xv we read
of the dukes in Edom being amazed and in Numbers xxi
of the King of Edom. His outrageous behavior towards
the kin of Edom is recorded in Numbers xx:14-21. Though
the children of Israel promised not to drink the waters in
the territory of Edom, or take their fruit without paying
for it, Edom refused to give Israel passage; while Israel
turned meekly away from Edom. Thus Edom branded
itself as the enemy of the people of God. They had an un-
dying hatred against the children of Israel, the sons of Jacob.
They had an envious dislike of the people of God. Later it
was attacked by Saul and conquered for David by Joab
(2 Sam. viii). During the reign of Jehoram (or Joram) they
revolted and gained independence.

When Judah and Israel began to decline Edom became

THE PROPHET OBADIAH 149

more and more arrogant and rejoiced in the evil which came
upon the people of God. Their dwelling place was the former
possession of the Horim, a race which lived in caves in the
mountainous region, much like the prehistoric cave dwellers
on the North American continent. Edom possessed then
the so-called troglodyte dwelling places cut into the cliffs
of sandstone; these rocky habitations were suited to their
warlike character and gave them the shelter they needed.
Hence they are mentioned in verse 3 as "dwelling in the
clefts of the rock." The ruins of Petra still bear witness to
its former grandeur. The wickedness of Edom continued
and when the Chaldeans came to destroy Jersualem they
also seemed to have shown their hatred. We read in Psalm
cxxxvii:?, "Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the
day of Jerusalem, who said raze it, raze it, even to the foun-
dation thereof." They were also in evidence during the
Maccabean period and later in the person of Herod the
Great, an Edomite, reigned in Jerusalem. The judgment
pronounced upon Idumea, their dwelling place, has foimd
a startling fulfillment.

But this does not end the story of Edom; there will be
a future revival of Edom and an ultimate history. This
will be at the close of the age, when the Lord regathers all
Israel and Judah and ten tribes will be reimited, then and
before Edom will appear once more in prominence. No one
knows where and what Edom is today. One might almost
surmise that the Turk must have some connection with
Edom in his horrible hatred and outrages against the
Armenians, who, as it is claimed by some, may contain
remnants of the ten tribes. But all this is mere speculation.
When God's time comes the Edomite will be known and
play his final role. Once more they will manifest their
national, undying hatred against the sons of Jacob, but
Israel victorious will lay their hand on Edom (Isa. xi:14).

We read of this future judgment upon the country of
Edom, Idumea, in Isaiah xxxiv:6:

"And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the
heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and all their

150 THE PROPHET OBADIAH

hosts shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine,
and as a falling fig from the fig tree. For my sword shall
be bathed in heaven; behold it shall come down upon
Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment."
It is unfulfilled to the present time, but it will be fulfilled
when "the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great
slaughter in the land of Idumea" (verse 6), that is, in the
future day of the Lord. As the context shows in Isaiah
xxxiv:8, it will be that day, "For it is the day of the Lord's
vengeance, and the year of recompense for the controversy
of Zion." Then comes the utter desolation of Edom (Isa.
xxxiv:9-17; see also Ezek. xxv:12-14, xxxv; Isa. bciii:3 and
Lam. iv:21-22). While Obadiah's prophecy has been par-
tially fulfilled, it awaits its final accomplishment in the day
of the Lord.

The Prophecy begins with the announcement that tid-
ings had come from the Lord which was heard by the Prophet
and by the people; an ambassador is sent forth among
the nations to summon them to go up in battle against
Edom. The hour for Edom's overthrow has come. The
Lord had made them small among the nations. It was
pride which brought them low so that they would be greatly
despised. As the dwellers in the rocks they thought them-
selves secure and boasted of it by saying, "Who will bring
me down to the ground?" But the humiliation of Edom
had been decreed by the Lord and no power could arrest
its execution. Their nests were high as the eagles, yea,
even so high that their habitations seemed to be among
the stars, yet the Lord would bring them down. His de-
struction would be complete; the spoilers would not be
like the thieves, who steal till they have enough; or like the
grape-gatherers who leave something behind. There would
be a clean sweep, everything searched out, even the hidden
things. Even those in whom they trusted, with whom Edom
made a covenant would deceive them and prevail against
Edom. Those with whom they made an alliance and gave
hospitality would turn against Edom and prove treacher-
ous, though they had eaten bread with them. Their friends

THE PROPHET OBADIAH 151

of the heathen nations, whom they stirred up against Israel,
would forsake them completely and the Lord would destroy
the wise out of Edom and understanding out of Mount
Esau. Even the wise men will not be able to help them;
their wisdom and understanding will not avail. Teman is
mentioned because it was known for its wise men; Eliphaz,
who spoke so well to Job was a Temanite (Job iv:l). And
the Prophet Jeremiah in his testimony against Edom wrote,
"Is wisdom no more in Teman? Is counsel perished from
the prudent? Is their wisdom vanished?" (Jer. xlix:7).
But now their wise and valiant ones would be cut off by
slaughter. '^

2. Edom's Sin Against Israel and the Day of the Lord:
Verses 10-16. Her sin of violence against her brother
Jacob comes now in special remembrance. On account of
it shame would cover them and they would be cut off for-
ever. When Jerusalem was in trouble and the Philistines
and Arabs plundered the city (2 Chron. xxi:16-17), they
stood on the other side and revolted (2 Chron. xxi:8-10).
And more than that, they joined in plundering the city.
Thus it was afterwards when the Babylonians came against
Jerusalem, Edom rejoiced; they spoke proudly. Perhaps
what is recorded in verses 12-14 happened repeatedly. They
stretched out their hands for the possession of God's people.
They placed themselves at the cross-roads to cut off the
fugitives and delighted to deliver up into the hands of their
enemies the remnant which was left.

; All this will be repeated once more, when another great
prophecy will be fulfilled and Jerusalem is once more sur-
rounded by hostile nations (Zech. xiv:l-5). Not a few
superficial Bible students thought when Jerusalem was
captured during the war, and all looked bright for political
Zionism, that the promises were now being fulfilled. There
is coming another siege of Jerusalem, preceding the glorious
appearing of the King of Israel, our Lord. That siege is
prophetically described by Zechariah. Among those na-
tions will be found Edom once more. Once more they will
manifest their malice and hatred against Jerusalem.

152 THE PROPHET OBADIAH

Then, to show the link of connection between the future
and the past, the Prophet announces the Day of the Lord.
"For near is the day of Jehovah upon all nations.'^ This
day has not yet been. There have been judgments upon
nations like Egypt, Babylon and others, nations which
were nations of power and culture, which have fallen under
the dealings of a righteous God; these judgments of the
past did not bring that day which Obadiah announced, of
which Joel after him so fully speaks. The Day of the Lord
upon all nations is future. When it comes it will mean
judgment for all nations, including Edom, Moab and others
named in the Scriptures of Truth; and that day will be
immediately followed by an age of blessing and glory such
as the earth and the race had never known before. It will
bring divine retribution. "As thou hast done will they do
unto thee." The nations of the earth will have to drink of
the cup of His fury and wrath.

3. 'nie Kingdom and the Restoration of Israel: Verses
17-6, 21. The final section of Obadiah's brief prophecy
concerns the kingdom, the victory over the enemies and
the restoration of His people. Mount Zion will come into
its own; there will be deliverance and there shall be holiness.
What God had promised to the remnant of His people will
be accomplished, and they will be a holy people and then
hold their possessions, all that the Lord in His infinite
grace had promised unto them. The house of Esau will be
consumed, so that none shall be remaining of Esau, while
Israel will occupy Edom's territory.

The Saviours mentioned in the last verse of this prophecy
(or deliverers) must mean the chosen instruments which go
forth to teach all nations and make known the glory of the
King in their midst. For "the Kingdom shall be the Lord's."

JONAH

The Prophet Jonah

INTRODUCTION

The question as to the reality of the person of Jonah is answered by
2 Kings xiv:25. In this passage we find him mentioned as the Prophet
who prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II. His name means
"dove," and his father's name Amittai means "the Truth of the Lord."
He was from "Gath-Hepher" — the winepress of the well is the meaning
of these two words. Thus Jonah also belongs to the earlier Prophets
and the book bearing his name, written by himself, occupies the right
place in the Old Testament. A Jewish tradition states that Jonah was
the son of the widow at Zarephath, whom Elijah raised to life; but this
is only an invention with no evidence whatever.

THE BOOK AND EXPERIENCE OF JONAH

The Book of Jonah is of a different nature from the books of the other
Minor Prophets; it is more like the history of Elijah and Elisha, these
two great Prophets and their personal experiences and activities as
reported in the historical books. The book of Jonah has no direct
prophecies in it, yet the experience it records is a great prophecy.

We do not give the contents of the book in this introduction, but shall
follow all in the annotations. As is well known, the miraculous history
of the book of Jonah has been widely attacked by infidelity. When
the Old Testament was translated into the Greek (the Septuagint)
heathen philosophers and other writers ridiculed it and made sport with
the book. Their objections and ridicule are reproduced in the school
of the destructive criticism. We hear that men who boast of great
scholarship declare that Jonah never lived, that the story of the book of
Jonah is an imagination of some great literary genius. Says that arch-
critic. Canon F. W. Farrar, in the Expositor's Bible: "Of Jonah we
know nothing more. For it is impossible to see in the book of Jonah
much more than a beautiful and edifying story, which may or may not
rest on some surviving legends." But as some one has said, it requires
less faith to credit this simple excerpt from Jonah's history than to
believe the numerous hypotheses that have been invented to deprive it
of its supernatural character. The great majority of these hypotheses
are clumsy and far-fetched, doing violence to the language, and doing
despite to the spirit of revelation. These infidel inventions are dis-
tinguished by tedious adjustment, laborious combinations, historical
conjecture and critical jugglery.

Some critics who do not want to reject altogether the story of Jonah,
suppose that it may have had some historical basis, though in

156 THE PROPHET JONAH

the form we have it today is fanciful and mythical. Another critic
regards it as a dream Jonah had in the ship. Still another critic view.s
the book as an historical allegory, descriptive of the fate of Manasseh,
and Josiah his grandson. AVhat M'ild fancy this critic indulged in may
be seen from the fact that he compared the ship to the Jewish monarchy,
while the casting away of Jonah symbolized the temporary captivity
of Manasseh!

Many critics treat it as an allegory based upon the Phoenician myth
of Hercules and the sea-monster. To quote a few more, simply to
show what foolish things the darkened mind of man, who thinks he has
attained scholarship, can invent in order to disprove the Truth of God,-
we mention the theory that when Jonah was thrown into the sea he
was picked up by a ship having for a figurehead the head of a great
fish. Another one says that probably Jonah took refuge in the interior
of a dead whale which was floating about near the spot he w-as cast
overboard.

The great majority of the critics today deny the historicity of the
book of Jonah and claim that its material has been derived from
popular legends, that it is fiction with a moral design. The moral
lessons and its religious meaning have even a wider range than these
hypotheses. The theories do not merit a special refutation.

IS IT HISTORY OF MYTH ?

There is nothing in the account which would justify any critic to
charge it with being allegory. It is cast in the form of a narrative and
has all the literary characteristics of a personal experience. The sole
reason why the critics have classed it with myths and deny its authen-
ticity is the miraculous element in the book. Any one who believes
in an omnipotent God, a God who does wondrous things, will have no
diflSculty whatever in accepting this book as a true history. We might
also add that all the earlier Jewish sources confirm the historicity and
literalness of the book of Jonah. Furthermore, the book is very simple
and pure Hebrew.

THE HIGHEST EVIDENCE

The highest authority that Jonah lived, and had the experience
recorded in this account is the Lord Jesus Christ. The words which
He spoke, who is the Truth, are plain and unimpeachable. There can
be no secondary meaning; "For as Jonah was three days and three
nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and
three nights in the heart of tlie earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise
in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, because they
repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, a greater than Jonah
is here" (Matthew xii:40-41). Our Lord tells us that there was a

THE PROPHET JONAH 157

Prophet by the name of Jonah and that he had the experience related
in the book which bears his name. To deny this is paramount with
denying the knowledge and the truthfulness of the Son of God. This
is exactly what sneering critics do. They have even gone so far as to
say that if our ever blessed Lord knew better than He spoke. He acted
thus for expediency's sake, so as not to clash with the current opinions
among His contemporaries. Others boldly say that He did not know,
for He had not access to the sources which are at our command today.
In other words the destructive critic claims to have more knowledge
than the Lord Jesus Christ possessed in His days on earth.

Professor A. C. Zenos (in the Standard Bible Dictionary) says: "The
New Testament does not commit Jesus Christ or its own authors to
one or the other of the contending theories." This is a poor statement.
The Lord Jesus did commit Himself fully to the historicity of Jonah.
"The New Century Bible," a destructive work, makes the following
declaration: "We are not to conclude that the literal validity of the
history of Jonah is established by this reference" — that is, the words
of our Lord in Matthew xii:40. But the man who wrote this overlooked
the fact that the Lord in all His allusions to the Old Testament events
always speaks of them as actual, literal events, and, therefore, estab-
lishes their literal validity. For instance, "As Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness" . . . "As it was in the days of Noah" . . .
"As it was in the days of Lot." Then in the next verse in Matthew's
Gospel, the Lord speaks of the Queen of the South's visit to Solomon as
a real, literal fact. Why then should He not have spoken of the history
of Jonah as a literal fact.'*

The truth is that the Lord Jesus Christ placed such emphasis upon
the book of Jonah because it foreshadowed His own experience as the
Redeemer, and because He knew of what apostate Christendom would
do with this book and its record. There is no middle ground possible;
either this book of Jonah is true, relates the true and miraculous history
of this Prophet, or the Lord Jesus Christ is not the infallible Son of
God. His Person and His Work stand and fall together with the
authenticity of Jonah.

"Our Lord singled out this particular miracle about Jonah, which has
been thought of great difficulty, and aflBxes to it His own almighty
stamp of truth. Can you not receive the words of the Lord Jesus
Christ against all men that ever were? The Lord Jesus has referred to
the fact that Jonah was swallowed by a great fish, call it what you will —
I am not going to enter into a contest with naturalists, whether it was
a shark, or a sperm-whale or another. This is a matter of very small
account. We will leave these men of science to settle the kind (if they
can); but the fact itself, the only one of importance to us to affirm, is
that it was a great fish that swallowed and afterwards yielded up the
Prophet alive. This is all one need to affirm — the literal truth of the
fact alleged. There is no need to imagine that a fish was created for

158 THE PROPHET JONAH

that purpose. There are many fishes quite capable of swallowing a
man whole. But the fact is not only affirmed in the Old Testament,
but reaffirmed by our Lord Himself and applied to Himself. Any man
who disputes this must give an account before the judgment seat of
Christ" (W. Kelly).

THE TYPICAL-PROPHETIC MEANING OF JONAH

The typical-prophetic meaning of the story of Jonah is authorized by
the words of the Son of God. His experience typifies the death, the
burial and the resurrection of our Lord, as well as the Gospel message
which goes forth to the Gentiles. Furthermore, Jonah's experience is
prophetic also of the entire nation. The annotations will enter more
fully into these interesting and important foreshadowings.

THE DIVISION OF THE BOOK

The division of the book is very simple. We maintain the chapter
division as made in the authorized version.

Chapter i gives the record of Jonah's commission, his disobedience
and the consequences. Chapter ii contains his prayer and his de-
liverance. Chapter iii has the account of his obedience in preaching
to Nineveh. Chapter iv contains the account of Jonah's discontent
and correction.

THE PROPHET JONAH 159

Analysis and Annotations

CHAPTER I

THE COMMISSION OF THE PROPHET: HIS DISOBEDIENCE

AND THE CONSEQUENCES

1. The Commission. 1-2.

2. The Disobedience. 5.

3. The Consequences. 4-17.

1. The Commission: Verses 1-2. The record begins
with the same word with which all historical books in the
Bible begin, like Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, etc. The
commission given to Jonah was to go to Nineveh, that great
city, and to cry against it on account of its wickedness.

Nineveh was the gTeat capital of the Assyrian nation ; it is
mentioned for the first time in Genesis x:ll. Its great size
is mentioned in Chapter iii:3, where we read it was "three
day's journey." Ancient Greek and Roman writers state
that it was the largest city in the world in that day. All
these statements of its enormous size have been verified by
modern excavations. The Word of the Lord came to Jonah
to visit this city and deliver the message. Seven times the
phrase "the Word of the Lord came to Jonah" is used in
this book.

2. The Disobedience: Verse 3. Jonah rose up at once,
but instead of going to the east towards Nineveh he fled in
the other direction. Tarshish in Spain was his goal. It is
also stated that he fled from the presence of the Lord. This
cannot possibly mean that he fled from the presence of Him
whom he knew as the omnipresent One. The Psalm of
David which speaks of this expressly was then in the pos-
session of Israel, and Jonah must have known it: "Whither
shall I go from Thy Spirit.' Or M'hither shall I flee from
Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven. Thou art there:
if I make my bed in sheol, behold, Thou art there. If I

160 THE PROPHET JONAH

lake the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost
parts of the sea; even there shall Thy hand lead me, and
Thy right hand shall hold me" (Psalm cxxxix:7-10). He did
not flee from the presence of the Lord in the sense of escap-
ing His knowledge and authority. It means that he left the
land of Israel where Jehovah dwelt; he fled from the
service-commission he had received.

If we look for a motive of this disobedient prophet we find
it given in the book itself. In chapter iv:2 we read, "There-
fore I fled before unto Tarshish, for I knew that Thou art a
gracious God, and merciful, and slow to anger, and of great
kindness, and repentest Thee of evil." But why should he
fear that God might be merciful to Nineveh and save the
city? It was undoubtedly a national spirit which possessed
the prophet. It has been suggested that the prophet knew
that the Assyrian v/ould be used by the Lord as the in-
strument to punish Israel and that he thought if Nineveh
would peri.sh the people Israel might be saved. Inasmuch
as God might show mercy to Assyria, Assyria would then be
used as the rod upon Israel, and for this reason he was dis-
obedient to the commission. But the direct prophecy that
the Assyrian would be the staff in the hand of the Lord to
bring judgment upon Israel was made through Isaiah
(chapter x), and that revelation had not yet been given, for
Jonah lived before the Prophet Isaiah. It was rather the
fear Jonah had as a Jew that the conversion of the Gentiles
might rob his nation of the distinction of being the nation of
election, to whom Jehovah had revealed Himself exclusively.
He therefore went to Joppa where he engaged passage on a
ship which was to bring him to Tarshish, which he never
reached. It was at Joppa where centuries later another
Jew, who was also jealous for his nation, had a vision which
made it clear that the Gospel should be preached to the
Gentiles. That Jew was Peter (Acts x).

3. The Consequences: Verses 4-17. No sooner had the
ship set sail but a terrible tempest arose, sent by the Lord.
The danger of shipwreck was imminent. The heathen
mariners became terrified and besides crying each one to their

THE PROPHET JONAH 161

gods, they tlirew the wares overboard to lighten the ship,
so that it might weather the storm. But we do not read
anything about Jonah calling on his God. Was it an evil
conscience which led him to seek sleep in the sides of the
ship? Or did he seek sleep because he was in despair.'' Or
was his action produced by the calmness of faith, that he
knew himself in the hands of the Lord? Perhaps his action
shows more than anything indifference and an astonishing
self-security.

The shipmaster aroused him from his sleep, asking him
why he slept and demanded that he call upon his God. The
lot is cast and it fell upon Jonah. He might have confessed
before but he waited as long as he could. The questions
they asked him he answers readily. He confesses that he is
a Hebrew, tliat he fears the Lord, the God of heaven, the
creator of sea and land. His confession filled them with fear;
they also knew that he had been disobedient for he told
them about it. It was a noble confession and shows that
though he had fled from the presence of the Lord that his
heart still clung to Him. He answered the question, what
shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us?
by pronouncing his own sentence. "Take me up, and cast
me forth into the sea; .so shall the sea be calm unto you;
for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you."
Again we must say these are noble words. He is ready to
sacrifice himself and trusts the Lord and His mercy. After
the mariners made an unsuccessful attempt to row the ship
to land, and calling upon the Lord not to lay upon them in-
nocent blood, they cast Jonah into the raging sea, and the
sea became calm. As a result the heathen sailors feared
Jehovah exceedingly, offering a sacrifice unto Him and
making vows, while the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow
up Jonah, in whose belly Jonah remained three days and
three nights. Some have stated that the Lord created a
special sea-monster for this purpose, but the HebreM^ word
does not mean "create" it means "appoint." It certainly
v.'-as not a whale, for whales rarely ever are seen in the
Mediterranean sea, nor can a whale swallow a human being

lee TEE PROPHET JONAH

on account of the narrowness of its throat. It was probably
a species of sea-monster frequently found in that sea and
known by the scientific name squalus carcharias, which can
easily swallow a human being whole. But the miracle was
not that such a fish came up from the depths of the sea and
swallowed the prophet, but that Jonah was miraculously
preserved in the fish.

THE TYPICAL APPLICATION

1. Jonah is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. As already
pointed out in the introduction the words of our Lord
sanction this application. But as He said when He spoke
of Solomon "a greater than Solomon is here," so He also
said "a greater than Jonah is here."

We point out a few of the applications and contrasts.
Jonah was sent with a message of judgment; the Son of
God came with the message of love and salvation. "For
God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through Him might be saved" (John
iii:17).

Jonah was disobedient, acting in self-will, fleeing from the
presence of the Lord. The Son of God was obedient; He
never did His own will but the will of Him that sent Him.
The words He spoke were not His own. "The word which
ye hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me." He
always had the Father set before Himself and was unin-
terruptedly in His presence.

Jonah, indifferent and self-secure, was fast asleep in the
ship while the storm raged and the ship was in danger of
going down. The Lord Jesus was asleep in the ship on
Galilee, and though the ship was filling with water He was
undisturbed, knowing that He was safe. He did what
Jonah did not and could not do. He rebuked His fearful
disciples and rebuked the wind and the waves; the storm
was suddenly hushed.

Jonah bore a faithful witness; but how much greater is
His witness. He is called "the faithful Witness" (Rev. i).

Jonah sacrificed himself in order to save those who were

THE PROPHET JONAH 168

about to perish. But how much greater His sacrifice!
Jonah's fate came upon him on account of his sin and dis-
obedience. The Lord Jesus Christ did not suffer for His sins,
for He had none, being the Holy, the Sinless One. He died
exclusively for others and died for the ungodly. But did
Jonah actually die.'' Did death fasten upon him? Was his
body miraculously preserved so that it did not see corruption?
Was it a literal resurrection when the fish vomited him out?
Jonah did not die physically. But his experience typifies the
death and the burial of Christ, and also His physical resur-
rection. How could Jonah have prayed and cried to the
Lord out of the belly of the fish if his physical life had
ceased? It was a miracle, however, that Jonah was kept
alive.

The three days and three nights have troubled a good many
expositors. Not a few teach that in order to bring together
the three days and three nights during which our Lord was
in the grave, He must have died either on Wednesday or
Thursday. The three days and three nights must be in-
terpreted according to Hebrew usage. In Luke xxiv:21 we
read that the two who met the risen Lord said, "and beside
all this, today is the third day since these things were done."
That was on the first day of the week. Reckoning back,
Saturday would be the second day and Friday the first day,
the day on which Christ died.

2. Jonah is a type of the Jewish Nation. In the Jewish
synagogical ritual the Book of Jonah is read on the Day of
Atonement. The writer is indebted to an old orthodox Jew
for the information why this story is read on their great day
of fasting and prayer. He said, "We are the Jonah." Like
Jonah the nation was called to bear witness to the Gentiles.
And as Jonah did not want the knowledge of Jehovah to go
to the G«ntiles, so the Jews filled with national pride of being
the elect nation opposed God's purposes. (See Acts xiii -.Q-VZ-,
44-52; xiv -.19-20; xvii:5-9; xviii:12, etc.)

Disobedient as Jonah, the nation left the presence of the
Lord. Jonah engaged passage on a merchant-ship, and the
Jew became a trafficker. Like as it was with Jonah, storm

164 THE PROPHET JONAH

and disaster came upon the nation after their great act of
disobedience, when they rejected ('hrist, and opposed His
purposes. Like Jonah, in the midst of all their troubles
they did not deny, nor deny now, their nationality, their
faith in God; they also confess in some of their prayers, at
least the orthodox Jews, why it is that they are in trouble,
that they have sinned and turned away from the Lord.

Jonah was cast overboard into the sea. The sea rep-
resents the nations; that is w'here the Jews were cast. As
a result of the casting away of Jonah the heathen sailors
turned to the Lord and sacrificed unto Him. In Romans
xi:ll we read, "through their fall (the Jews) salvation came
to the Gentiles to provoke them to jealousy." The belly of
the fish represents the grave of the Jews among the nations.
They became nationally and spiritually dead. But as the
fish did not digest Jonah, so the nations have not digested
the Jew. They remain unassimilated, just as Balaam pre-
dicted, "This nation shall dwell alone and not be reckoned
among the nations." The national preservation of Israel is
one of the great miracles of history, just as the preservation
of Jonah in the belly of the fish was a miracle.

CHAPTER U
JONAH'S PRAYER AND DELIVERANCE

1. The Prayer. 1-9.

2. The Deliverance. 10.

1. The Prayer: Verses 1-9. Some expositors have called
attention to the fact that the prayer is not one offered up
for deliverance, but it is a thanksgiving for the accomplished
deliverance. But this is answered by the opening verse of
this chapter, in which we are told that he prayed unto the
Lord his God out of the fish's belly. When he found that he
had escaped the death he anticipated and that the power of
God kept him alive, he realized that the Lord his God would
also deliver him; in faith he praised Jehovah for the coming
deliverance. His prayer is composed almost entirely of
sentences found in the Psalms. We give the references.

THE PROPHET JONAH 166

Verse 2 reminds of Psalms xviii:6, 7 and cxx:l. The word
"hell" is the Hebrew "sheol," the unknown region. See
also Psalm xxx:3. Verse 3 contains a quotation from
Psalm xlii:7, "All thy waves and billows passed over me."
In connection with verse 4 consider Psalm xxxi:22. Verse 5
is found in Psalm xviii :4, except the seaweed which crowned
his head as he went into the deep; also Psalm lxix:2. The
thanksgiving in verse 6, "Yet hast Thou brought up my life
from the pit, O Lord, my God" is closely allied to Psalm
XXX :3. The first part of verse 7 is from Psalm cxlii:3 (mar-
ginal reading) and cxliii:4. The second part is found in
Psalm v:7 and xviii :6. The eighth verse reminds of Psalm
xxxi:6 and the ninth verse is to be connected with Psalm
xlii:4.

The last utterance before the Lord commanded the fish is
a triumphant shout, "Salvation is ol the Lord," a truth
which many preachers in Christendom do not know.

2. The Deliverance: Verse 10. The God of creation
manifested His power over His creation by impelling the
fish to release its prisoner. The place at which the fish
vomited out Jonah is not mentioned; it was probably not
very far from the seaport Joppa where he embarked.

THE TYPICAL APPLICATION,

1. As to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord went into the
jaws of death and died the sinner's death, the substitute of
S'inners. Most of the passages from the Psalms which Jonah
embodied in his prayer are prophetic predictions of the
sufferings of Christ. He cried to God for deliverance and
was heard. (See Hebrews v:7.) The answer was His
resurrection. Over His blessed head passed the waves and
billows of a Holy God, when as the substitute He hung on
the cross. He knew more than Jonah could ever know what
it meant, "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the
floods of ungodly men made me afraid." The Ixix Psalm is
Messianic and the words Jonah used, "I sink in deep mire
where there is no standing; I am come into deep v^^aters,
where the floods overflow me," tell us of the deep sufferings

166 THE PROPHET JONAH

through which He passed. While Jonah's head was wound
about with the seaweeds of the deep, our Lord bore the
crown of thorns, the emblem of the curse, upon His blessed
head.

It was on the third day that the fish vomited out Jonah.
The third day is marked in the Word of God as the day of
resurrection. (See Genesis i:ll-13; Hosea vi:l-3.) On the
third day our Lord left the grave behind and rose from among
the dead. We quote a helpful paragraph on the question of
the three days and nights: "So our Lord Jesus, though by
Jewish reckoning three days and three nights in the grave,
literally lay there but the whole of Saturday, the Sabbath,
with the part of Friday not yet closed, and before the dawn of
Sunday. For we must always remember in these questions
the Jews' method of reckoning. Part of a day regularly
counted for the twenty -four hours. The evening and the
morning, or any part, counted as a whole day. But the
Lord, as we know, was crucified in the afternoon on Friday;
His body lay all the Sabbath day in the grave; and He arose
early on the Sunday morning. That space was counted
three days and three nights, according to sanctioned Biblical
reckoning, which no man who bows to Scripture would
contest. This was asserted among the Jews, who, fertile as
they have been in excuses for unbelief, have never, as far as
I am aware, made difficulties on this score. The ignorance
of Gentiles has exposed some of them when unfriendly to
cavil at the phrase. The Jews found not a few stumbling
blocks, but this is not one of them; they may know little
of what is infinitely more momentous; but they know their
own Bible too well to press an objection which would tell
against the Plebrew Scriptures quite as much as the Greek."*

2. As to the Nation. The prayer for deliverance and
Jonah's deliverance by the power of God foreshadows the
coming experience of the remnant of Israel. There is coming
the time of Jacob's trouble in the closing years of this age.
Then a part of the nation will call upon the Lord. Their

"Kelly on Jonah.

THE PROPHET JONAH 167

prayers are also pre-written in the book of Psalms, and when
finally they acknowledge that "Salvation is of the Lord,"
and He appears in His glory, to turn away ungodliness from
Jacob, the Lord will bring them out of their spiritual and
national death. He will speak to the fish, the nations, and
they will give up the Jews. Then comes the third day of
their restoration. (See Hosea vi:l-3.)

CHAPTER III
JONAH PREACHING IN NINEVEH

1. The Repeated Commission and Jonahs Obedience. 1-4.

2. The Repentance and Salvation of Nineveh. 4-10.

1. The Repeated Commission and Jonah's Obedience:
Verses 1-4. And now after Jonah's death and life experience
the Word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time,
telling him to arise and go the Nineveh to preach there
what the Lord would command him. And now he is
obedient, Jonah arrived in the great city of three days'
journey, and advancing a day's journey into it he cried out
his message, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be over-
thrown." Following is the objection of Higher Criticism as
to this statement: "If we were reading a historical de-
scription the narrative would be full of difficulties. A strange
prophet announced the impending destruction as he traveled
through the vast city for one day, and the huge population
immediately believed and repented. The king, who is not
named, heard, put on sackcloth, sitting in ashes. If this
were history, Jonah did what no prophet, no apostle, what
Christ Himself never did. Never did a day's preaching
bring a vast strange city to repentance. But we repeat, it
is not history, it is a story with a meaning, an allegory; it is
the great announcement that God cares for the heathen
world, and calls it to repentance, and whenever men any-
where repent. His compassion is kindled towards them"
(New Century Bible) . We reserve the answer to the supposed
difficulties in this historical account for the typical unfolding
of this event.

168 THE PROPHET JONAH

2. The Repentance and Salvation of Nineveh: Verses
4-10. The people of Nineveh believed God. The news that
a strange prophet had appeared with the message of doom
must have spread like wildfire and hmidreds upon hundreds
must have passed it on so that in a very short time it reached
every nook and corner of the great city; it reached the palace
of the king and the prisoners in the dungeon. That this is
real history has been confirmed by archaeology. For just
about that time Nineveh was in great trouble and facing a
crisis, which made them eager to believe the message and
return to God. They evidenced their faith by a universal
fast and humiliation before God.. The king laid aside his
royal robe and humiliated himself as every one of his subjects
did. He issued a proclamation to abstain from food and
drink, in which the dumb creation was included. What a
solemn time the great city had, when hundreds and thousands
humbled themselves and when the lowing and groaning of
the domestic animals was heard throughout the city. The
people acknowledged all their wickedness and turned away
from their evil ways and deeds of violence, expressing the
hope of God's mercy. "Who can tell if God will turn and
repent, and turn away from His fierce anger, that we perish
not." And God answered and was merciful to them.

THE TYPICAL APPLICATION

1. As to the Lord Jesus. Jonah who typifies in his ex-
perience the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord,
preached the message as one who had been in a grave and
came to life out of that grave. In Luke xi:29-30, 32, our
Lord makes the application: "For as Jonah was a sign unto
the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of Man be to this gen-
eration . . . The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judg-
ment with this generation, and shall condemn it, for they
repented at the preaching of Jonah, and, behold, a greater
than Jonah is here." Christ was not preached as a Saviour to
the Gentile world till He had died and risen from the dead.
The Greeks who inquired after Him (John xii) received no
answer. But the Lord spoke of Himself at that time as the

THE PROPHET JONAH 169

corn of wheat which was to die to bring forth the abundant
fruit. Christ died for the sins of His people Israel, "for that
nation," but He also died as a member of the nation, from
which He came according to the flesh, so that He might
rise and become the Saviour of the Gentiles. Christ preached
as having died for our sins, buried and risen on the third
day, is the true Gospel and carries with it the power of God
in the salvation of sinners.

2. As to the Nation. The third day is the day of Israel's
spiritual and national resurrection. When that day comes
converted Israel will be, according to God's gifts and calling,
a holy nation, a nation of priestly functions, a kingdom of
priests. They are then fit to show forth the Lord and His
glory, and to bring the message, not of judgment, but of
life and glory, to the nations of heathendom. The statement
in the New Century Bible quoted above is quite correct in
one particular — that "Jonah did what no prophet, no apostle,
what Christ Himself never did" — that never a day's preach-
ing brought a vast strange city to repentance. And we
might add that no preachmg today, during this age, can ever
bring such results. The case is unique; it never happened
again, that a man who was disobedient, who turned against
the divine commission, became a castaway, was miraculously
]>reserved and delivered, led a great world city to God and
to true repentance. But if we take into consideration the
fact that this true history is a prophecy, all these invented
higher critical difficulties vanish altogether. When the
nation is reinstated in the land, filled with the Spirit, they
will fulfill their calling and go forth in bringing the Inessage
to the nations of the world. Then Matthew xxviii:19 will
be accomplished. Then and not before will the world be
converted, and all the nations will be joined in the kingdom
to Is^at^ His kingdom people.

And as for repenting Nineveh there came a day of joy and
gladness, as animal creation in that city ceased its lowing and
groaning, so will come the day of joy and gladness for this
poor world, "in that day" wlien even groaning creation will
be delivered of its groans and moans.

170 THE PROPHET JONAH

CHAPTER IV
JONAH'S DISCONTENT AND CORRECTION

1. Jonah's Discontent. 1-3.

2. The Correction. 4-11.

1. Jonah's Discontent: Verses 1-3. All that had hap-
pened displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was very angry.
Did he feel that he had lost his prestige as a prophet, having
announced the overthrow of Nineveh, when it did not
happen .f* What he feared had come true; God had been
merciful to this great city and they were now enjoying what
he considered Israel's exclusive inheritance. Instead of re-
joicing in the great exhibition of God's mercy towards such
a wicked city, he was angry. Like Elijah, in the hour of
despondency he requests to die. "Therefore, now, O Lord,
take, I beseech Thee, my life from me; for it is better for me
to die than to live." The trouble with Jonah was that he
thought only of himself, and, as another has said, "the
horrid selfishness of his heart hides from him the God of
grace, faithful in His love for His helpless creatures."

2. The Correction: Verses 4-lL The Lord God who had
been so merciful to Nineveh is now merciful to His angry
servant the Prophet. "Doest thou well to be angry?" How
great is the patience and kindness of the Lord, even tov/ards
them who fail! Jonah leaves the saved city evidently in
disgust, and finds on the east side a place where he con-
structed a booth and sat there waiting to see what would
become of the city. He evidently expected still an act of
judgment. Then comes the lesson. The Lord God who had
prepared a fish to swallow the disobedient prophet now
prepared a gourd to provide shade for him. This gourd, a
quipayon, is a very common plant in Palestine. The Creator
whose creation is so wonderful, manifested the Creator's
power in raising up this plant, for the relief of His servant,
in a sudden maimer. And Jonah was exceeding glad. Then
God prepared a worm which destroyed the gourd. When
the morning came and the sun beat upon the head of the
prophet he fainted, and once more wished in himself to die.
Alas! if the prophet had been in the right place before the

THE PROPHET JONAH 171

Lord he would have accepted the gourd as an evidence of
His loving care, and when the worm destroyed the plant so
that it withered he would have equally acknowledged his
Creator-God and not have murmured. He might have said
with Job, "The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; blessed
be the name of the Lord." Jonah in his selfish impatience
found fault with God. It is still the common thing amongst
professing Christians.

And when God asked him, "Doest thou well to be angry
for the gourd?" the poor finite creature of the dust answered
the Creator, "I do well to be angry, even unto death." Then
comes the lesson. Not God, Elohim, the name of Him as
Creator, speaks, but it is Jehovah, the Lord: "Thou hast
had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured,
neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and
perished in a night: and should not I spare Nineveh, that
great city, wherein are more than six score thousand persons
that cannot discern between their right hand and their left;
and also much cattle?" If Jonah felt pity and was angry
because of a small vine he had not planted nor made to grow,
should not God with greater right have mercy upon His
creatures, whom He created and sustained? Jonah is
silenced; he could not reply. The last word belongs to
Jehovah, who thus demonstrated that in His infinite com-
passion He embraces not Israel alone, but all His creation,
the Gentile world and even animal creation.

"Most touching and beautiful is the last verse of the book,
in which God displays the force and supreme necessity of
His love; which (although the threatenings of His justice are
heard, and must needs be heard and even executed if man
continues in rebellion) abides in the repose of that perfect
goodness which nothing can alter, and which seizes the
opportimity of displaying itself, whenever man allows Him,
so to speak, to bless him — the repose of an affection that
nothing can escape, that observes everything, in order to
act according to its own undisturbed nature — the repose of
God Himself, essential to His perfection, on which depends
all our blessing and all our peace."*

*Synopsis.

MICAH

The Prophet Micah

INTRODUCTION

When the Prophet Jeremiah was in danger of being put to death for
his faithful testimony, certain of the elders rose up and said, "Micah
the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah, King of Judah;
and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of
hosts: Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become
heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest"
(Jer. xxvi:18). This is the testimony of the Book of Jeremiah to
Micah, who prophesied under the reign of Hezekiah, as well as Jotham
and Ahaz. The first verse of the Book of Micah gives us this infor-
mation. While Jonah was a Galilean, Micah was a Judean. He came
from Moresheth-Gath, which distinguishes him from another prophet
of the same name, Micah the son of Imlah (see 1 Kings xxii:8; Micaiah
is the same as Micah). The name Micah means "who is like the Lord?"

Prophesying mostly in Jerusalem during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz
and Hezekiah, he was contemporaneous with Isaiah. Though his name
is not mentioned in the prophecy of Isaiah, his message is the same as
the message of Isaiah, in describing the moral corruption of their
times, and the Messianic prophecies. The following passages will con-
firm this: Micah i:9-16 and Isaiah x:28-32; Micah ii: 1-2 and Isaiah
v:8; Micah ii:6, 11 and Isaiah xxx:10, 11; Micah ii:12 and Isaiah
x:20-23; Micah iii:5-7 and Isaiah xxix:9-12; Micah iii:12 and Isaiah
xxxii:14; Micah iv:l and Isaiah ii:2; Micah iv:4 and Isaiah i:20;
Micah iv:7 and Isaiah ix:7; Micah iv:10 and Isaiah xxxix:6; Micah
v:2-4 and Isaiah vii:14; Micah v:6 and Isaiah xiv:25; Micah vi:6-8
and Isaiah lviii:6-7; Micah vii:7 and Isaiah viii:17; Micah vii:12 and
Isaiah xi:ll. Thus the Lord gave the same witness through the mouth
of these two. Of course Isaiah was the leading figure. But Micah
did not copy him, but as the Holy Spirit came upon him he uttered
his prophecies bearing witness to the same truths Isaiah had spoken.
The style of Micah's writings is different from the style of Isaiah.
"This may be all explained by the vivacity of his own individuality,
and the excited state of his mind, passing as he does rapidly from
threatening to promise, from one subject to another, and from one
number and gender to another." But his words are never deficient
in clearness, while in other respects he comes quite near to the style of
Isaiah.

The prophetic horizon of Micah is very much restricted. The mag-
nificent sweep of Isaiah, looking forward to the great and glorious
consummation in the Kingdom, is lacking in Micah. The question
of the exact time when Micah uttered his prophecies, what was spoken

176 THE PROPHET MICAH

during the reign of Jolham, during the reign of Abaz or Ilezekiah, is
unessential, aud we do not follow it in this introduction.

HIS MESSAGE

The Book consists of three great prophetic discourses which all
begin in the same way, with the command to hear. "Hear all ye
people," chapter i:2, the first discourse. The second discourse, chap-
ter iii:l, "Hear, I pray you." The third discourse, chapter vi:l,
"Hear ye now what the Lord saith." In the first prophetic message
he predicts the destruction of Samaria, the ten-tribe kingdom, and the
captivity of Judah. The second message is a message of reproof of the
leaders of the nation, the heads of Jacob and the princes of the house
of Israel, followed by a denunciation of the false prophets. This is
followed by the vision of the coming glory in the last days and the
restoration of Israel. In this second discourse the coming Ruler of
Israel and His birthplace are announced; what He is and the King-
dom He will establish in the midst of His people. Here is the message
of hope and glory.

The third discourse contains a very solemn pleading with His people.
Jehovah tells them again of all His loving kindness. He tells them He
has a controversy with them; He speaks to them of His rightful de-
mands. It is a most eloquent outburst. The last part contains an assur-
ance that the Lord will surely have compassion upon His people, while
their enemies will be overthrown to lick the dust. One of the greatest
words of praise in the Scriptures is found in the last three verses. It
contains Israel's hope and is a prophecy of the time when the Redeemer
shall return and turn away ungodliness from Jacob and remember
their sins no more.

The three prophetic discourses of Micah the Morashtite give a pro-
gressive message. The Book begins with the threatening judgment;
it leads on towards the Messianic salvation and glory, and finally the
exhortation and reproof — to return unto Him, to repent, and the assur-
ance of His compassion and forgiveness.

THE PROPHET MICAH 177

Analysis and Annotations

THE FIRST PROPHETIC MESSAGE

Chapter i-ii
CHAPTER I

1. The Introduction. 1.

2. Judgment Announced. 2-5.

3. The Destruction of Samaria. 6-7.

4. The Lamentation of the Prophet over the Coming Judg-

ment. 8-16.

1. The Introduction: Verse 1. This introduction tells us
two things. In the first place, we learn that this book con-
tains the Word of the Lord that came to Micah, the Morash-
tite; in the second place, we are told when Micah exercised
his office. As stated in the introduction, he was contem-
porary with Isaiah, probably for about twenty-nine years.
Criticism has attacked the authorship of this book also.
Since Criticism began, with Ewald, to question the unity
of this Mttle book, it has raged with increasing violence, until
Professor Cheyne, improving on Robertson Smith in the
Encyclopedia Britannica, concludes: "In no part of chap-
ters iv-vii can we venture to detect the hand of Micah."
There is no need to answer such statements. The unity of
the Book of Micah is fully demonstrated by the message it
contains. If chapters iv-vii were not written by Micah,
will the critics gives us light on who the author is.?*

2. Judgment Announced: Verses 2-5. The opening mes-
sage is sublime. It is an appeal to all the nations, the whole
earth and all that is in it, to listen to the witness of the
Lord Jehovah against them, the witness which comes from
His holy temple. The other Micah (Micaiah, the same as
Micah) the son of Imlah, uttered similar words (1 Kings
xxiii:28). He next describes the Lord coming out of His
place, the place where He dwells in mercy, to come down
and tread upon the high places of the earth. He is coming

178 THE PROPHET MICAH

to Judge; He is coming in wrath. The nations are to hear
it, that the judgment is for the transgression of Jacob and
for the sins of the house of Israel. On verse 4 see Psalm
xviii:7-10; Psalm lxviii:8 and Judges v:4. The near ful-
fillment was the double judgment which came upon the
two kingdoms, the kingdom of the ten tribes, Samaria, and
the kingdom of Judah. But the description of the coming
of the Lord in judgment also relates to that great future
event, the day of the Lord.

3. The Destruction of Samaria: Verses 6-7. The sin of
Israel was Samaria, it originated there and consisted of idol
worship; the sins of Judah were the high places in Jerusa-
lem (see Jer. xxxii:35). Complete destruction of Samaria
would come with this announced judgment and all her graven
images would be broken to pieces, and her whoredoms burned
with fire (Joel iii:3; Hosea ii:7).

4. The Lamentation of the Prophet Over the Coming
Judgment: Verses 8-16. Here is the lamentation of Micah
as directed by the Spirit of God, not only over the fate of
Samaria, but over Judah as well. He weeps for both Samaria
and Judah. "I will wail and howl; I will go stripped and
naked; I will make a wailing like the jackals, and a mourn-
ing like the owls (ostriches)." It shows how these men of
God entered in a whole-souled manner into the divine reve-
lations they received. It created deep soul exercise. This
must be the result of faith in the Prophetic Word with all
His people at all times. In verse nine the prophet speaks of
one who comes to execute the threatened judgment. "He
is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem."
This enemy is the Assyrian whom Micah beholds advanc-
ing and who came before the gates of Jerusalem (see Isa. x).
The Assyrian was used in ending the kingdom of Israel;
Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar was the instrument used
against Judah and Jerusalem. Sennacherib came against
Jerusalem, but it was Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, who
carried Israel away into captivity. Isaiah's prophecy enters
more fully into this. He describes both the Assyrian and
the Babylonian power. And both will appear again at the

THE PROPHET MIC AH '179

close of the times of the Gentiles. The little horn of Daniel's
prophecy in chapter vii, the head of the confederated na-
tions, the revived Roman Empire, corresponds with the
final King of Babylon, while the final Assyrian is the other
little horn in Daniel viii (see annotations on Dan. vii and
viii).

Verses 10-13 correspond to Isaiah x:28-34; it is a descrip-
tion of the advance of the Assyrian. The coming disaster
is not to be published in Gath, that is, the Philistines are
not to hear of it (see 2 Sam. i:20). There is a remarkable
play of words in these statements. It may be literally
rendered as follows: "Weep not m Weep-town; in Dust-
town (the meaning of Aphrah) roll thyself in dust"; then a
contrast, "in Beauty-town (Saphir means beauty) be in
nakedness and shame; and in March -town (the meaning of
Zaanan) march not forth."

The inhabitant of Maroth waited anxiously for good, but
evil came from the Lord unto the gate of Jerusalem (Maroth
means bitterness). In the Assyrian cylinder, known as
Taylor's cylinder, Sennacherib mentions the great gate of
Jerusalem.

Then follows a call to Lachish to escape. "Bind the chariot
to the swift beast." Lachish was a fortified city, as the
excavations have shown, and was taken by Sennacherib.
Here is still another play of words in the original. Lachish
means "Horse-town," so that it can be translated "Bind
the chariot to the horse, O inhabitant of Horse-town." It
has been suggested that the sin mentioned in connection
with Lachish was that "the horses of the sun" in connection
with idolatry were kept there (see 2 Kings xxiii:ll).

In verse 14 the prophet mentions his home town Mores-
heth-gath; there is to be a parting gift for she shall go into
captivity. And Achzib will not keep the invader back;
Achzib means a lie — the "Lie- town" shall be a lie to the
kings of Israel, a false hope.

The heir who is to possess Mareshah is the Assyrian, and
"the glory of Israel shall come even unto AduUam," the

180 THE PROPHET MICAH

nobles of Israel shall gather in the cave of Adullam, like
outcasts (see 1 Sam. xxii:l). \

They were now to mourn, expressed in making themselves
bald (Job i:20; Isa. xv:5, xxii:12; Jer. xvi:6), for they are
gone into captivity.

CHAPTER n

1. The Guilt and Punishment of Israel. 1-11.

2. The Future Restoration. 12-13.

1. The Guilt and Punishment of Israel: Verses 1-11.

In the first two verses the special sins of Israel are men-
tioned, the same as in Amos — idolatrj', covetousness and
oppression. Therefore pimishment is to fall upon them.
There would be a doleful lamentation: "We be utterly
spoiled: he changeth the portion of my people; how does
he take it away from me!" Their fields would be divided.
Nor did they listen to the true prophets; they gave ear to
the false prophets who flattered them. It is interesting to
note that the sentence, "Prophesy ye not, thus they proph-
esy," literally translated is, "Do not sputter, thus they
sputter." They did not give out the real message, but they
sputtered out their own words. These false prophets tried
to prevent the true prophets from announcing the judgment
of the Lord.

Then comes a passionate appeal : "O, thou that art named
the house of Jacob, is the Spirit of the Lord straitened.'* Are
these His doings? Do not my words do good to him that
walketh uprightly.'*" He still appeals to their consciences.
The Spirit of God does not change, nor was it His doings,
when the nation drifted into idolatry and judgment was im-
pending. Still, if they but walked uprightly His words
would surely do them good. But they had risen as an enemy
against Him; and yet the Lord, in spite of all, called them
"My people."

2. The Future Restoration: Verses 12-13. In this proph-
ecy Christ is announced as the Breaker, the One who goes
before them, clears the way, and removes every obstacle
out of the way. In verse 10 we read, "Arise ye, and depart;

THE PROPHET MICAH 181

for this is not your rest." The true rest for His people
Israel comes when the King comes and brings with Him
the promised blessing and glory. Then the remnant of
Israel will be gathered, "and their king shall pass before
them, and the Lord at the head of them." It is a great
prophecy of the ultimate restoration of Israel. "We must
not exclude all allusion to the deliverance of the Jewish
nation out of the earthly Babylon by Cyrus; at the same
time, it is only in its typical significance that this comes
into consideration at all, namely, as a preliminary stage and
pledge of the redemption to be effected by Christ."

THE SECOND PROPHETIC MESSAGE

Chapters iii-v.
CHAPTER III

1. Address to the Godless Princes and Judges. 1-4.

2. Address to the False Prophets. 5-8.
8. The Verdict of Judgment. 9-12.

1. Address to the Godless Princes and Judges: Verses
1-4. The second prophetic message of Micah contains the
great Messianic prophecies. But first the prophet gives a
description of the degradation of the nation, the moral cor-
ruption of the leaders and judges, as well as the false prophets.
It is all summed up in one sentence, "who hate the good, and
love the evil." The princes and judges robbed the people,
treated them like cattle (verse 3). For these unjust deeds
the Lord would not hear them when they cried in the hour
of their need, and would hide His face from them.

2. Address to the False Prophets: Verses 5-8. The false
prophets were mostly responsible for these abominations,
just as today the false in Christendom, the deniers of the
faith, destructive critics and others, are responsible for the
conditions in the professing Church. They make the people
err. While they bite with their teeth, that is, being fed, they
cried "Peace" to their patrons; and those who did not sup-
port them, by putting food in their mouths, they fought and

182 THE PROPHET MICAH

denounced. There would be night for them, with no vision;
darkness would come upon them. They would be ashamed
and confounded; the covering of the lips was a sign and
emblem of mourning and silence. Such will be the fate of
all false prophets and teachers.

The eighth verse is a magnificent outburst of God's true
prophet, Micah's confession. As the true prophet he was
full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and thus filled he
declared unto Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.

3. The Verdict of Judgment: Verses 9-12. What Micah
had announced in the preceding verse he does now. He tells
the heads and rulers that they build Zion with blood and
Jerusalem with iniquity. He speaks of the influence of
money. Judges acted for reward, priests taught for hire,
and prophets prophesied for money. The verdict of judg-
ment is mentioned in Jer. xxvi:19. This prophecy was ful-
filled when Babylon conquered Jerusalem. And when finally
the returned remnant rejected the Lord of Glory, their King,
Zion and Jerusalem became once more heaps, as he an-
nounced, "Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles
until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."

CHAPTER IV

1. The Future of Glory. 1-5.

2. The Restoration and the Final Victory. 6-13.

1. The Future of Glory: Verses 1-5. The last verse pre-
dicted the long desolation and ruin of Zion. This is followed
at once by a great prophecy of the future of glory in store
for Zion. Isaiah also uttered this great prediction. Not that
Micah copied Isaiah, nor Isaiah Micah, but the same Spirit
gave to the men the same prophecy. It concerns the latter
days, which means the coming of Messiah's kingdom on
earth. These days are not yet here. To apply these words,
even in a spiritual way, to the present age, or to the Church,
is a serious mistake. The house of the Lord is not the
Church, but the house in Jerusalem, to which in the king-
dom the nations will come to worship the Lord of hosts.

THE PROPHET MICAH 183

The nation will be judged and rebuked by Him whose glori-
ous throne will be established in Jerusalem. Then, and only
then, comes the time of universal, world-wide peace. How
blind Christendom is in not seeing in what connection the
favoured text concerning peace on earth stands! It will be
"in that day" when "they shall beat their swords into plow-
shares and their spears into pruning hooks." The prediction
of our Lord that throughout this age, down to its end, na-
tion would lift up sword against nation, is then ended, and
another order of things begins; for then "nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war
any more." What peace and prosperity will then follow!
It is described in the fourth verse, "But they shall sit every
man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall
make them afraid : for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

2. The Restoration and the Final Victory: Verses 6-13.
The regathering of all Israel then takes place. Not the boast-
ing, proud, infidel, portion of the nation as it is today.
Reform-Judaism and the other apostates in the nation will
suffer judgment in the future as they did in the past. But
there is a feeble. God-fearing remnant, and to that remnant
belong the promises. "In that day, saith the Lord, will I
assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven
out, and her that I have afflicted." In His grace He will
make the remnant a strong nation and reign over them in
the established kingdom. To Zion shall return "the first
dominion," that is, the reign and power and glory that was
manifested in the monarchy under David and Solomon; only
it will be greater than David's or Solomon's kingdom.

All this is preceded by her sorrow and captivity. It must
be noticed that verse 10 goes beyond the Babylonian cap-
tivity, for it could not be said that the Lord redeemed in
that past captivity Israel from the hands of her enemies.
Nor was it true then that many nations were gathered against
her. The Babylonian captivity is a type of the greater dis-
persion throughout this present age. Wlien it ends, as it
will end, the Lord will then redeem His people and deal in
judgment with the opposing nations which finally gather

184 THE PROPHET MIC AH

against Jerusalem. (See the annotations of the last chap-
ters of Zechariah.) He gathers the nations for the harvest
time, when the sheaves are to be threshed. The daughter
of Zion is to trample on them and beat them, and the grain,
the riches of the Gentiles, will be consecrated unto the Lord.
In connection with verses 11-13 the following Scriptures
should be read and studied with the annotations: Joel iii;
Ezekiel xxxviii; Zechariah xii.

CHAPTER V

1. The Siege and the Smitten Judge. 1.

2. The Smitten Judge: Who he is. 2.

3. The Events of the Future. 3.

4. The Rejected One, The Shepherd of Israel. 4-6.

5. The Remnant of Jacob and The Kingdom. 7-15.

1. The Siege and the Smitten Judge: Verse 1. This in-
teresting chapter presents difficulties, but they all vanish
if we view all in the light of the future as revealed in the
prophetic Word. Here it is necessary to divide the Word
of Truth rightly, or we shall never find our way through
this great Messianic chapter. The daughter of troops gathers
herself in troops to besiege Jerusalem. It is the Assyrian
army gathering before the city. But it is not the Assyrian
of the past, whose invasion both Isaiah and Micah describe
prophetically, but it is the Assyrian of the future, the great
troubler which invades the land of Israel at the end-time,
the time of Jacob's trouble, the great time of travail and
final deliverance. This last invader, the King of the North
(see Joel ii) besieges Jerusalem. And the reason of it all,
their long history of trouble, culminating in the great tribu-
lation, is the rejection of the judge of Israel. It is the Mes-
siah, our Lord. They despised Him, insulted Him, smote
Him with a rod upon the cheek. He is called the Judge of
Israel, because the judge held the highest official position
in Israel; the King of Israel held this office. The smiting
upon the cheek was considered the greatest disgrace; thus
Zedekiah smote the prophet Micaiah upon the cheek and
asked him, "Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from

THE PROPHET MICAH 185

me to speak to thee?" (see 1 Kings xxiii:24 and Matt, xvi:
67, 68). In Job xvi:10 we read Job's complaint, "They have
gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me
reproachfully upon the cheek; they have gathered them-
selves together against me."

2. The Smitten Judge, who He is: Verse 2. This great
verse is a parenthetical statement, giving a description of
the Judge of Israel. It shows forth Him who is to be the
Ruler and the Judge, the Redeemer and the King. It is
the passage which the chief priests and the scribes quoted
to wicked Herod, when he demanded to know where Christ
should be born (Matt. ii:4-6). This great prophecy was
therefore known when our Lord was born to predict the
birth of the Messiah, in fact, the Jews always believed this.
But after He was born and lived among them and was re-
jected by them they attempted deliberately to explain it
away, and invented fables to accomplish this. It was
Tertullian, and other prominent teachers of the early Church,
who argued with the Jews, that if Jesus was not the promised
Messiah, the prophecy given by Micah could never be ful-
filled, for none of David's descendants was left in Bethlehem.

But here is more than an announcement of the birthplace
of Christ. We have a wonderful description of His Person.
He is to fee the Son of David, coming out of David's city,
destined to be the Ruler in Israel. But He is more than a
descendant of David, "His goings forth have been of old,
from everlasting." Even this plain announcement has not
been left unattacked by the infidel critics. Dr. R. F. Horton
in his comment on this passage says the following: "We
are not called on to explain away this wonderful and solemn
forecast, especially when we have seen it in the Babe of
Bethlehem, who came into the world out of the bosom of
the Father. Micah could not understand his own deep
saying; but how foolish of us to discredit it when history
has made its meaning plain."

Here we have His Deity fully revealed as well as His
humanity; He is the God-Man. In this passage Micah's
testimony harmonizes with Isaiah's in chapter ix:6, 7.

186 TEE PROPHET MICAH

3. The Events of the Future: Verse 3. The meaning of
this verse becomes plain if we connect it with the first verse
and treat the second verse as a parenthesis. They smote
the Judge of Israel upon the cheek, they rejected the Lord
of Glory, and as a result God gave them up. "Therefore
will He give them up, until the time when she that travaileth
hath brought forth; then the remnant of His brethren shall
return to the children of Israel." It is often applied to the
birth of Christ and connected with Revelation xii, the birth
of the man-child. There can be no question that the man-
child in the chapter of Revelation is Christ, and the woman
described is Israel; but its exegetical meaning is in con-
nection with the last days, when Israel will be in travail
pains to give birth to the remnant, so prominently men-
tioned in prophecy. Since the nation rejected the Messiah
they have had nothing but suffering, but the great travail
pains come in the future. "For thus saith the Lord: We
have heard a voice of trembling, of fear and not of peace.
Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child?
Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins,
as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into pale-
ness.'' Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it,
it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved
out of it (Jer. xxx:5-7). That godly remnant turning then
to the Lord, born in that future travail, are called here "His
brethren." They are the same of which our Lord spoke in
the description of the judgment of nations, which He exe-
cutes when sitting upon the throne of His glory (see Matt.
XXV :31). That remnant will resume their place as and with
Israel, not becoming a part of the true Church, which is
then no longer upon the earth, but having all the earthly
Jewish hopes realized in the kingdom, of which they are the
nucleus.

4. The Rejected One, the Shepherd of Israel: Verses
4-6. This refers to His second coming. He will stand and
feed in the strength of Jehovah, for He is the Lord; and
they (saved Israel) shall abide. Yea, more than that, "He
shall be great unto the ends of the earth."

THE PROPHET MICAH 187

How beautiful is the opening sentence of the fifth verse!
"This Man shall be peace (or our peace)." Of Him Isaiah
spoke, too, as "the Prince of Peace," and that "of the in-
crease of His government and peace there shall be no end."
David in his great prophetic psalm (Ixxii :7) concerning these
coming days speaks of "abundance of peace." Zechariah
likewise in predicting the future says, "He shall speak peace
to the nations" (Zech. ix:10). He made peace in the blood
of His Cross and for all who trust in Him He is peace, "for
He is our Peace."

Here it concerns the peace He has and gives to His re-
stored people Israel. He will be the peace for them, when
the Assyrian, the King of the North, enters their land, and
by His power will strike down the invader. Who are the
seven shepherds and the eight principal men? They will
be those who will be used in that day to stem back the in-
vading hosts. Who they are is unknown, but it will be
known at the time of fulfillment. Then Assyria, the land
of Nimrod, as well as all opposing world powers will be com-
pletely ended.

5. The Remnant of Jacob and the Kingdom: Verses 7-
15. The restored and blessed remnant of Jacob will possess
a double character. They will be used in blessing and
refreshing among the nations, "as dew from the Lord, as
the showers upon the grass." On the other hand, they will
be in the midst of many people as a lion and as a young
lion, to avenge unrighteousness and opposition. All the
adversaries and enemies of Israel will be cut down and cut
oflP (Num. xxiv :9 ; see exposition of Balaam's parables at the
close of annotations on Numbers.) All the instruments of
war will be done away with, as well as witchcrafts and the
soothsayers. Spiritism, Christian Science, Theosophy and
all the other demon cults flourishing now, and still more
before He comes, will find their ignominous end. Idolatry,
the graven images, and the standing images will be abol-
ished. Before the Lord comes the evil spirit of idolatry
will once more seize hold on Israel, that is, among the apos-
tates (see annotations on Matt. xii:43-45). While all thi.s

188 THE PROPHET MICAH

refers to Israel it also includes the rest of the world. All
offences will be gathered out of His kingdom. The better
rendering of verse 15 is, "And I will execute vengeance in
anger and fury upon the nations which hearkened not."
That is, during the end of the age God sent forth a testimony
to the nations and those who hearkened not will fall under
the wrath of the lion of the tribe of Judah.

THE THIRD PROPHETIC DISCOURSE

Chapters vi-vii
CHAPTER VI

1. The Words of Jehovah to His People. 1-5.

2. Israel's Answer. 6-7.

3. The Moral Demands of Jehovah. 8.

4. The Lord Must Judge Them. 9-16.

1. The Words of Jehovah to His People: Verses 1-5.

This chapter is cast in the form of a controversy. The
utterance has been called by some the most important in
the prophetic literature. It is hardly this, nor is, as critics
claim, the eighth verse a definition of religion, "the greatest
saying in the Old Testament."

The beginning is sublime, "Hear ye now what Jehovah
saith!" The Prophet is to arise and contend before the
mountains so that the hills may hear his voice. The moun-
tains and the enduring foundations of the earth are to hear
the controversy the Lord has with His people and how He
pleads with Israel.

Then follows the tender loving pleading of Jehovah, who
still loves His people, in spite of their wickedness, "O my
people, what have I done to thee?" What matchless con-
descension! The Lord whom they had rejected, from whom
they had turned away, does not denoimce them for their
sins, nor does He enumerate them, but He asks whether
He had been at fault. Had He done anything amiss towards
them? Had He wearied His people? He is willing that they
should testify against Him. Had He done anything that
they should get tired of Him? We may imagine a pause
here, as if He were waiting for an answer. But there is no
answer.

THE PROPHET MICAH 189

He continues to speak. He had brought them out of
Egypt, redeemed them out of the house of bondage; He
had given them Moses, Aaron and Miriam, by whom He led
them. He reminded them of Balak, King of Moab, and
Balaam, the son of Beor, who wanted to have Israel cursed.
But what had Balaam been forced to say? "How shall I
curse whom God has not cursed!" What a faithful, loving
God He had been to them.

2. Israel's Answer: Verses 6-7. Here the people speak,
But it is significant that they do not address the Lord, who
had spoken to them by the prophet. They knew them-
selves guilty and condemned. So they address the prophet
and ask what to do. "Wherewith shall I come before the
Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come
before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with
ten thousand rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my
transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"
For generations they had brought burnt offerings, thou-
sands of rams and rivers of oil. But it was nothing but an
outward worship; inwardly they remained the same. But
they were willing to do more in this outward service, even
to the sacrifice of the firstborn. Isaiah i:10-18 is an in-
teresting commentary to these questions, showing how the
Lord despised these ceremonies of a people who were evil
doers and corrupters (see also Psalm 1:7-23).

3. The Moral Demands of Jehovah: Verse 8. The
prophet gives the answer of Jehovah. "He hath showed
thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord re-
quire of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to
walk humbly with thy God?" Where has God made the
demand? In the Law. There is no more deadly error than
to hold up this verse as the essence of the Gospel and the
one true, saving religion. Yet this we hear today on all
sides. But the most loud-mouthed advocates of this "sav-
ing religion" practise what the Lord demands the least.
And there is a good reason for it. Israel did not act in
righteousness, nor did they love mercy, nor did they walk

190 THE PROPHET MICAH

humbly in fellowship with the Lord. Why not? Because
they were uncircumcised in their hearts. To do right, to
love mercy, to walk in humility with God is impossible for
the natural man; in order to do this there must be the new
birth, and the new birth takes place when the sinner be-
lieves and expresses his faith in true repentance. Only a
blind leader of the blind can say this verse is the Gospel,
and that faith in the Deity of Christ and in His atoning,
ever blessed work on the Cross is not needed. Israel never
has been anything like this which Jehovah demands. The
day is coming when the Lord in His grace will give them a
new heart and take away the stony heart, and fill them
with His Spirit (see Ezek. xxvi).

4. The Lord Must Judge Them: Verses 9-16. The Lord
speaks again and puts before them once more their moral
degeneration. Wicked balances, deceitful weights, the deeds
of unrighteousness. They were destitute of mercy, for they
were full of violence, lies and deceit. Therefore judgment
must now fall upon them.

CHAPTER Vn

1. The Prophet's Complaint. 1-6.

2. Confession, Prayer and Thanksgiving. 7-20.

1. The Prophet's Complaint: Verses 1-6. Is is the

prophet's voice complaining over the conditions of the
people. But he is also the typical representative of the
remnant during the time of travail in Zion. It is to be noted
that our Lord quotes from this portion of Micah. (See
Matt. x:21, which dispensationally applies to the future
remnant.) In the midst of the conditions the prophet
describes we read that his refuge was prayer, looking to
the Lord with the assurance that He will hear. "Therefore
I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my
salvation; my God will hear me." This will be the attitude
of the godly Israelites during the time of trouble.

2. The Conclusion: Verses 7-20. It is Israel speaking
iu the remnant, represented by the prophet. The enemy is
addressed; at the time of Micah it was the Assyrian, the

TEE PROPHET MICAH 191

type of the end Assyrian; but it includes all the world powers
in their anti-Semitic attitude. The real Israel has always
had this comfort, founded on the fact that God's gifts and
calling are without repentance, that they are the elect na-
tion, that their fall must be followed by a spiritual and
national resurrection (Rom. xi). Hence they say, "Rejoice
not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall I shall rise again;
when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light unto me."
This will be the case when their greatest darkness comes in
the end of the age (see Isa. Ix).

It is a willing submission to the chastisement of the Lord
expressed in verse 9; they acknowledge theirs sins and once
more declare, "He will bring me forth to light, and I shall
behold his righteousness."

This is followed by a prophetic declaration. The day is
coming when her walls will be built again, and in that day
shall the decree be far removed. The latter statement may
mean the same which the Prophet Jeremiah reveals in chap-
ter xxxi:31 to the end of the chapter. The old decree, or
law, will end, and there will be the new covenant into which
Judah and Israel enter "in that day." Then the nations
M ill gather to restored Israel in the kingdom (compare verse
1^2 with Isa. lx:3-10).

In the meantime the land will be desolate, as it is now,
the fruit of their evil doings, till the day comes when the
wilderness will be a fruitful field (Isa. xxxii:16) when the
desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose (Isa. xxxv:l).

Once more the prophet's voice is heard in supplication.
The prayer in verse 14 is answered by the Lord in verses
15-17. The Lord will show again in that day the marvel-
ous things as He did in their past redemption out of Egypt.
The nations, their enemies, will be witness to it; they will be
humiliated in the dust.

The three concluding verses belong to the greatest in the
Old Testament Scriptures. Here we listen to a great praise
and outburst of adoration. "Who is a God like imto Thee,
that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of
the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger

192 TEE PROPHET MICAH

forever, because He delighted in mercy. He will turn again,
He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our
iniquities; and Thou will cast all their sins into the depths
of the sea. Thou will perform the truth to Jacob, and the
mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers
from the days of old."

Such will be the future praise of the remnant of His heri-
tage, when the Deliverer comes to Zion and turns away
ungodliness from Jacob, when the covenant with them will
be consummated and their sins will be taken away (Rom.
xi:26, 27). Once a year orthodox Jews go to a running
stream and scatter into it bits of paper and small articles,
repeating while they do it these three verses (the so-called
Tashlik ceremony). It is but an outward act, yet testifying
that there is still faith in Israel. It will be a glorious day
when God forgives them their sins and remembers them no
more.

NAHUM

The Prophet Nahum

INTRODUCTION

Nahum's history is unknown. All we know of him is that he was an
Elkoshite. His name means "Comforter." Some have identified
Elkosh with a village of similar name which is in existence today, not
far from the site of ancient Nineveh, on the eastern banks of the Tigris.
There the grave of Nahum is shown, adored alike by nominal Christians
and the followers of Mohammed. But careful research has shown this
to be absolutely without any foundation whatever. No one knew
anything about that grave till about the sixteenth century of our era.
It is the Elkosh which existed in Galilee and which is still known as a
little village. Nahum, like Jonah, was a Galilean.

THE DATE OF NAHUM

The opening verse does not give a hint as to the time Nahum lived
and prophesied. Critics, on account of some Assyrian expressions
found in the book have put the date later. From internal evidences we
can ascertain the date without difficulty. Judah and not Israel is
addressed by Nahum. There is no reason to assume that he lived in
exile and uttered his prophecy in the land of Assyria. He spoke in
the land of Israel, probably in Jerusalem. The most significant passage
which gives us important information is chapter i:ll: "There is one
come out of thee (out of Assyria) that imagineth evil against the Lord,
a wicked counsellor." Who was this wicked counsellor, who imagined
evil against the Lord.'' There can be but one answer. A wicked counsel-
lor came out of Assyria, the mouthpiece of its reigning king Sennacherib.
His name was Rab-shakeh. He blasphemed and defied the God of
Israel. His vile words are recorded in 2 Kings xviii:26-27. The de-
scription of Nahum fits this Assyrian villain. We are justified
in placing Nahum in the period of Hezekiah; he was therefore con-
temporary with Isaiah and Micah.

There is an interesting link between Jonah, Micah and Nahum.
Jonah, was sent with the message to Nineveh about one hundred and
fifty years before Nahum prophesied. Through his message Nineveh
turned to the Lord. Isaiah and Micah prophesied concerning the same
Assyrian power, the capital of which was Nineveh. They witnessed
the Assyrian attack upon Jerusalem and Jehovahs intervention
in behalf of His people. They saw the downfall of the kingdom
of Israel through Assyria and were well acquainted with the wicked-
ness of the Assyrian. And then came Nahum from Galilee, and the
Spirit of God gave through him the great message of the coming
complete destruction of Nineveh.

196 THE PROPHET NAHUM

ASSYRIAN HISTORY

A knowledge of Assyrian history, and its grciit ca!)ital Nineveh, is
needed for a better understanding of Nahum's prophecy. It is strange
that ancient writers like Ctesias, the physician of Artaxerxes, Mnemon
and Diodorus Siculus have but little to say about Assyria, and many
identified Assyria with Babylonia. The infidel critics have seen their
defeat in this respect. Not believing the Bible, they trusted in the
historical accounts of pagan writers, and assuming that they were right
discredited the Word of God, only to find out afterward that the Bible
is right and the heathen historians were wrong. For instance, Isaiah
mentions in chapter xx Sargon, king of Assyria. Because the secular
historians know nothing of such a king, they sat in judgment upon the
Word of God. They denied that such a king ever existed, thinking that
the statement by Isaiah is an invention. But when Khorsabad was
excavated the annals of Sargon, King of Assyria, were found engraved
on the walls of the palace. It was then proven that Sargon was a great
warrior, the father of Sennacherib, and that Isaiah gave a true record.

Hezekiah, the king of Judah, under whom Nahum as well as Isaiah
and Micah prophesied, had paid tribute for many years to Assyria.
When he revolted an Assyrian army appeared in the land, by which
over forty Judean cities were captured. Jerusalem itself was saved by
divine intervention (see Isa. xxxvii:36). Sennacherib, who had sent the
expedition against Jerusalem,being murdered by his own sons in 681 B.C.
(see Isa. xxxvii:38). His successor was Esarhaddon, who besieged Sidon
and carried its treasures to Nineveh. Asshurbanipal succeeded him to
the throne and made his son Shamash-shumukin regent of Babylon, for
Babylon was then an insignificant power. Here we must remember
that when Babylon was next to nothing in world history, Isaiah had
predicted its coming greatness and conquest of Jerusalem by the
Babylonian power. Under Asshurbanipal the ancient and great
capital of Upper Egypt was captured, which is mentioned by Nahum
in chapter iiirlO; that is, No-Amon is Thebes. Asshurbanipal con-
quered many countries and nations; he razed Susa and immense
treasures were carried off to Nineveh. During his reign every year
saw a cruel war and ruin and carnage was spread in every direction.
The captives were treated in a horrible manner, with all kinds of
torture. The nations suffered terribly under this wicked monarch,
so that when finally Assyria fell the nations rejoiced, as mentioned by
Nahum at the conclusion of his prophecy. "All that hear the bruit of
thee shall clap hands over thee; for upon whom hath not thy wicked-
ness passed continually?" After Asshurbanipal Assyria declined.
He was followed by Asshur-etil-ilani and Sin-shar-ishkun, and finally
Assyria and its great and proud capital were conquered by Nabo-
polassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar and Cyaxares. This happened
about 625 B.C., just about ninety years after Nahum announced the
destruction of Nineveh.

THE PROPHET NAHUM 197

THE MESSAGE OF NAHUM

His prophetic message concerns exclusively Nineveh. Critics
have put question marks over against certain parts of this book, while
other critics have contradicted their fellow critics. In fact, if one
wishes to find theories and assumptions, wild guesses and fanciful
hypotheses, the camp of the rationalist is the place. The unity and
integrity of the prophecy of Nahum is beyond controversy. As the
opening verse announces, it is the burden of Nineveh.

Typically Nineveh stands for the world powers to the end of the
times of the Gentiles, and its overthrow foreshadows the overthrow of
the final world powers.

THE DIVISION OF NAHUM

The three chapters of which Nahum is composed give us the correct
division of his prophecy. In the first chapter we find the purpose of
God in dealing in judgment with the oppressor of Israel. The second
chapter describes the overthrow, the plundering and destruction of
Nineveh. The third chapter shows the guilt and the well deserved
judgment and ruin of Nineveh.

198 TEE PROPHET NAIIUM

Analysis and Annotations

THE PURPOSE OF GOD IN DEALING WITH THE
ASSYRIAN OPPRESSOR

CHAPTER I

1. The Superscription. 1.

2. Jehovah's Majesty in Judgment. 2-6.

3. His People Comforted and Assured. 7-13.

4. The Judgment of Assyria and the Result. 14-15.

1. The Superscription: Verse 1. The burden of Nineveh;
it means that there is to follow a weighty prophetic oracle
concerning the great world city of Nineveh, whose dimen-
sions are given by Jonah, which have been confirmed by the
excavations. The next sentence gives us the definite infor-
mation that what follows in the book is the vision of Nahum
the Elkoshite.

2. Jehovah's Majesty in Judgment: Verses 2-6. It is a
sublime description. God is a jealous God. The jealousy
of God has for its source the love for His elect people (see
Zech. i). "For thou shalt worship no other god; for the
Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God.'* He is jeal-
ous over His people lest they serve other gods. And because
He is a jealous God, a holy, a sin-hating God, He must be
an avenger of what is against His character. He will take
vengeance on His adversaries and reserveth wrath for His
enemies. Destructive criticism has invented an infidel
theory as if the God of wrath and vengeance were the
product of the mind of man, and that Jehovah is some
tribal deity, corresponding to the tribal gods of the sur-
rounding heathen nations. Thus criticism rejects the
Jehovah of the Bible and invents its own god, rejecting the
threatenings of coming wrath and judgment as taught in the
Old Testament and in the New in connection with the Com-
ing of the Lord, branding these revelations the result of
the false apocalyptic teachings of the Jews. God is the God

THE PROPHET NAHUM 199

of Love, as much as He is the God of Wrath. He must be
that or He would not be the God of Light and Holiness.
He cannot afford to let evil go on forever. He is the Lord
slow to anger. His patience is great, but He will not acquit
the guilty, who continue in sin and do evil. Verses 2 and
3 describe His righteous government. Then follows a beau-
tiful poetic description of His majesty, a description suited
to the finite mind of man.

In whirlwind and storm is His way.

And clouds are the dust of His feet.

He rebuketh the sea and drieth it up

And empties all the rivers.

Carmel, Bashan and Lebanon are thinned out.

And the Flower of Lebanon languisheth.

Mountains quake before Him

And all the hills melt away;

And the earth is consumed in His presence.

The world and all that dwell therein.

Before His indignation who can stand?

And who can abide His fierce anger.'

His fury is poured out like fire.

And the rocks are thrown down by Him."

What to the mind of man is more imposing than the tower-
ing storm-clouds, and what more terrifying than the onrush-
ing whirlwind, which lays low the forest? Man, the crea-
ture of the dust, steps upon the dust of the earth, to which
man returns in the hour of death. But Jehovah has the
clouds as the dust of His feet. If He arises in His righteous
wrath all will be swept before Him, and the mountains,
symbolical of the kingdoms of the earth, will quake before
Him, and the pride of man will be humbled in the dust
(see Isa. ii).

3. His People Comforted and Assured: Verses 7-13.
While in the foregoing section He speaks of His own charac-
ter in dealing with evil, He now gives comfort and assurance
to those who trust in Him, that is, to His people. He knoweth
them, the comfort all His people have at all times, the Lord
knoweth them that are His, and as our Lord said, "I know
my sheep." For such the Lord is good and a stronghold

200 THE PROPHET NAHUM

in the day of trouble. But His enemies will feel His wrath.
"But with an overrunning flood He will make an utter end
of the place thereof (Nineveh) and darkness will pursue His
enemies."

In the prophetic application we must look beyond the
horizon of Nahum's time and the judgment of Nineveh.
The day of the Lord brings the final overthrow of the proud
world powers, and the remnant of His people will have in
the Lord a refuge, while the judgment floods sweep over
the earth (see Psa. xlvi).

On the ninth verse many expositors have erred in their
interpretation. It is also addressed to Israel. "What do
ye imagine against the Lord.^*" Do you imagine that the
Lord is not going to do it? Will He repent of His judgment
purpose? No! He who has spoken "will make an utter
end," and to His people it is spoken "aSliction shall not rise
up the second time."

Then a description of the Assyrian in verse 10. They are
entangled like thorns, so that they will find no escape when
the judgment overtakes them, v/hile they are drunk with
wine in their carousings. Like the dry stubble are they to
be devoured. Rab-shakeh, as mentioned in our introduc-
tion, is the one who came out of Assyria against Jerusalem
with evil imaginations. The better translation of verse 12
is, "Though they be strong, and likewise many, even so
shall they be cut down, and he (the Assyrian) shall pass
away."

The second half of the twelfth verse concerns His people.
"Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more."
One can see at once that the "no more" demands a future
fulfillment. For, while it is true, the Assyrian did no longer
afflict Israel, yet affliction upon affliction has been their lot.
But there comes the day when all afflictions will cease. "For
now wifl I break his yoke (the yoke of the Assyrian) from
off thee (Israel) and I will burst thy bonds asunder."

4. The Judgment of the Assyrian and the Result: Verses
14-15. The fourteenth verse gives the judgment command-
ment as to Assyria and Nineveh. They are vile, and the

THE PROPHET NAHUM 201

God who declared His character in the beginning of this
message, is going to act accordingly.

The result is stated in the last verse of this chapter.
"Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth
good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy
solemn feasts, perform thy vows; for the wicked shall no
more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off." The prophet
beholds how the messengers rush over the mountains with
the good news. Judah and Jerusalem are delivered. Peace
has come. Praise and thanksgiving is heard in Zion.

We must not overlook tlie similar passage in Isaiah lii:7.
"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him
that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that
bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation,
that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! . . . Break forth
into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for
the Lord hath comforted His people, He hath redeemed
Jerusalem. The Lord hath made bare His holy arm in the
eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth have
see the salvation of our God." This was spoken in connec-
tion with Babylon's overthrow, but its wider application
and meaning is future. The overthrow of Babylon and
Nineveh did not result in the glorious things spoken of by
Isaiah and Nahum. Not then did the ends of the earth
see the salvation of God, nor was Jerusalem redeemed, nor
God as King entlironed in Zion. It is all yet to come.
When that day comes, the messengers will go forth from
Jerusalem and declare the good tidings to the nations of
the world. The good news of the kingdom will be heralded
far and wide, in the beginning of the millennium, and then
the abiding, abundant peace has come, so that all the
nations see the salvation of the God of Israel. The wicked,
opposing powers of the world will then be no more.

THE OVERTHROW, PLUNDERING AND DESTRUCTION
OF NINEVEH

CHAPTER 11

1. The Capture of Nineveli Annouriccnl and Described. 1-10.

2. The Completeness of the Judgment. ll-l.S.

202 TEE PROPHET NAHUM

1. The Capture of Nineveh Aimoimced and Described:
Verses 1-10. This great prophecy was literally fulfilled
some ninety years after Nahum had spoken. When these
words were spoken Nineveh was in the zenith of her glory.
Who told Nahum the Elkoshite that the proud world city
would undergo such a sack and be completely wiped out.?
Who moved his pen to give such a vivid description of what
would take place .^^ There is but one answer — the Spirit of
God. How was the prophecy fulfilled.'' Cyaxeres of the
Medes had surrounded Nineveh in the north. Nabopolassar
of Babylon entered into an alliance with Cyaxares against
the Assyrians, which was sealed by the marriage of the
daughter of Cyaxares, Amunia, with the son of Nabopolas-
sar, that is, Nebuchadnezzar, who appeared then as the col-
league of his father, till the Lord called him as the instru-
ment of judgment upon Jerusalem and he became the head
of the Babylonian monarchy (see Dan. xi). They made
an assault upon Nineveh. The Assyrian king, a son of
Asshm-banipal, collected all his forces into the lower part
of the immense city. Three times the forces of the Assyrian
sallied forth from the city and inflicted severe punishment
upon the besieging armies, and Nabopolassar had great
difficulty in keeping the Median forces from flight. The
Assyrians after these successes abandoned themselves to
great carousings, as stated in Nahum i:10. But during that
night they were attacked by the besiegers and driven back
behind the walls. Then the troops which were under the
command of the brother-in-law of the Assyrian king were
routed and driven into the river Tigris. The main part of
Nineveh was still safe. In the third year of the siege the
river which surroimded the city became its enemy. Great
rains had fallen and suddenly there was a tremendous flood
which broke down the walls surrounding the city. This was
predicted by Nahum in this chapter in the sixth verse.
The king despaired of saving his life. He had sent his family
north, and when all hope was gone he shut himself up with
all his treasures in the royal citadel and burned himself
with them. Then the victors entered into the city, and.

THE PROPHET NAHUM 203

after securing an immense booty, which was carried to
Babylon and Ecbatana, the Babylonians set fire to the
sacked city, and destroyed it completely by fire.

The prophet in the beginning of this chapter addresses
Nineveh; he urges that she make ready to defend herself, for
he that dasheth into pieces has appeared before her walls.
It was the Lord who had used the Assyrian to bring judg-
ment upon Israel and upon Jacob, but now the time had
come for the restoration of their former excellency. The
Authorized Version gives the wrong sense, and the second
verse is correctly rendered: "For the Lord bringeth again
the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for
the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine
branches." Then the besieging army is described. Here we
read of their glittering arms, their fast racing chariots, which
dash along like lightning.

We have heard even reputable Bible teachers make the
statement that Nahum predicted the automobiles racing
along our streets. Such fanciful, far-fetched and arbitrary
applications of the Word of God do immense harm. Nahum
does not anticipate the automobile, but gives a picture of
the besiegers of Nineveh with their chariots, drawn by swift
horses.

In verse 5 the Assyrian king is seen turning to his army,
as he sees the chariots dashing along the highways and
broadways which lead to the city; he counts his worthies,
his generals and captains. And the army suddenly called,
in making haste stumbled along in disorder and made haste
to reach the walls. As stated above, the sixth verse was ful-
filled when the river became a flood and undermined the
foundations of the walls, so that the besiegers could enter
in. And when Babylon fell, under the grandson of Nebu-
chadnezzar, the river also was the means of defeat, for the
enemy had diverted the river Euphrates and through the
dry river-bed entered the city.

The word "Huzzab" in the seventh verse has led to a
great deal of discussion. Some claim that it is the name
of the Queen of Nineveh; others that it is a symbolical

204 THE PROPHET NAHUM

name of the city; archaeology throws no light up>on its
meaning. We beHeve the word "Huzzab" should be trans-
lated, "It is determined." Then the sentence reads,
"It is determmed; she is made bare and led away
captive; and her maids moan like the doves, smiting upon
their breasts."

The flight of the population of Nineveh is pictured in the
eighth verse. Like as a pool of water empties when the sluices
are opened, so they flee. The soldiers cry "Stand! Stand!"
but there is a panic. They rush away and none looks back.

In the next two verses the plundering of the city is pre-
dicted. Silver and gold is taken away. There seems to be
no end of all the glorious things which were heaped together
in Nineveh. The city is emptied; hearts melt, courage is
gone; there are tottering knees and pale faces.

2. The Completeness of the Judgment: Verses 11-13.
Is it a sarcastic question which is asked, "Where is the den
of lions.'*" What has become of her proud boastings of
being the Queen-City of the nations.'*

Then Jehovah speaks of the completeness of her judgment
and overthrow. "Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord
of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and I
will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy
messengers shall no more be heard."

NINEVEH'S GUILT AND WELL-DESERVED JUDGMENT

CHAPTER in

1. The Great Wickedness of Nineveh. 1-7.

2. Her Fate to be Like the Fate of No-Amon. 8-13.

3. Her Well-deserved and Complete Judgment. 14-19.

1. The Great Wickedness of Nineveh: Verses 1-7.

Nineveh was a bloody city, for her kings never knew peace,
but were constantly at war. The Hebrew Ir-Damim means
*'City of Blood Drops." They boasted of making the blood
of their enemies run like rivers. It was a city full of lies
and rapine. Her word could not be trusted; she broke
truces and covenants and deceived nations with lying

THE PROPHET NAHUM 205

promises of help and protection. As stated in the second
chapter, she was ferocious as a Hon and the prey never
departed.

But she received as she had sown. The next two verses
give again the scenes of carnage during her judgment hour.

"The cracking of the whip;
And the noise of the rattling wheels;
The prancing of the horses.
And the dashing chariots.

The horseman mounting;

And the flashing sword.

And the glittering of the spear;

And the multitude of the slain;

And the heaps of the corpses.

There is no end of dead bodies;

They stumble over their corpses."

And why? "Because of the multitudes of the whoredoms
of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that
selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through
her witchcrafts." She made herself attractive like a harlot
does, to ensnare and beguile weaker nations. Like all these
ancient cities she was filled with witchcrafts, that is, sor-
ceries. The power of darkness manifested itself in the
dominion of evil spirits, which Nineveh courted. Spiritism,
as advocated today by men of research and culture, of the
type of Oliver Lodge and Conan Doyle, and a multitude of
others, is not a new thing. Egypt, Babylon and Nineveh
and other centers of paganism were filled with occultism,
the practice of which hastened their doom; as the doom of
our age will be consummated through the influence of the
same evil powers.

Then Jehovah speaks again, as the God of retribution and
judgment. These are solemn words.

"Behold! I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts;
And uncover thy skirts over thy face.
And display to the nations thy nakedness.
And to kingdoms thy shame!

206 TEE PROPHET NAHUM

And I will cast vileness upon thee.

And disgrace thee

And make thee a gazing-stock.

And it shall come to pass.

That all that look upon thee

Shall flee from thee,

And say, Nineveh is laid waste;

Who will lament over her?

Whence shall I seek comforters for her?"

She had acted the harlot and now she receives the punish-
ment of a harlot, which consisted in exposing her in public.
She would be a gazing-stock for nations and kingdoms, as
the righteous God stripped her of all and exposed her shame.
There would be no one to lament over the vile mistress of
witchcrafts.

2. Her Fate Like the Fate of No-Amon: Verses 8-13.
"Art thou better than No-Amon that dwelt by the rivers?
Waters were round about her; her bulwark was the sea
and her wall was of the sea. Ethiopia and Egypt were her
strength, and there was no limit; Put and Lubim were thy
helpers." No-Amon was an Egyptian city, known to the
Greeks by the name of Thebes. The judgment of No-Amon,
or, as it is also called, "No," was announced by the prophet
Jeremiah. "The Lord of Hosts, tlie God of Israel saith.
Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh and
Egypt, with their gods and their kings, even Pharaoh and
them that trust in him" (Jer. xlvi:5). Ezekiel likewise had
spoken of this great Egyptian city (Ezek. xxx:14-16). There
existed an immense temple there in honor of the god of No,
the building had great facades and columns and covered a
large space; tiie ruins which are left are still most wonderful
to look upon. It was situated on the upper Nile some four
hundred miles from Cairo, and was built along the river
front. On the other side of the river was the city of the
dead, the Necropolis, with a long line of temples, devoted
to the worship of former Pharaohs, and behind these temples
were thousands of tombs, many of which have been un-
covered by the spade of the explorer. The cuneiform monu-

THE PROPHET NAHUM 207

ments tell of the fate of Thebes. Though she was defended
by the strong men of Ethiopia and of Egj'pt and Phut, and
the Libyans, nothing could avert her doom. She was car-
ried into captivity, her young children were dashed in pieces,
and her great men were bound in chains. Could then
Nineveh hope to escape? The fate of No-Amon was a
prophecy of Nineveh's fate. She was even more wicked
than the Egyptian city. Her fate is described in verses
11-13.

3. Her Well-deserved and Complete Judgment: Verses
14-19. Dramatically the prophet calls upon Nineveh to
draw water for the siege, to secure clay for brick to repair
the breaches in the wall. But all would be useless, for the
Almighty had decreed her downfall. The fire would devour
the proud city, the sv/ord do its havoc in cutting them off.
Let them be as numerous as the cankerworm (see annota-
tions of Joel i), make thyself as many as the locusts, which
come in immense swarms, and it will be all to no avail. Her
great commerce, her merchant-princes, were a vast host,
like the stars of heaven, but all would soon be devastated,
as the cankerworm spoileth and then flies away. Their
crowned ones, the chiefs in authority, would all be scattered
just as the sun-rise scatters the locusts and swarms of grass-
hoppers to a place unknown. Their shepherds, the leaders
and rulers, under the king of Assyria, v/ould sleep in death,
while the population wandered homeless over the moun-
tains, with none to gather them.

Nineveh's ruin is complete and irreparable. All who hear
of her fall rejoice and clap their hands.

HABAKKUK

The Prophet Habakkuk

INTRODUCTION

There is a very interesting diversity among these Minor Prophets.
Hosea starts with the command of the Lord for a symbolical action to
show Israel her spiritual whoredoms. Joel plunges in at once to describe
the judgment of the land by the locusts and leads on to the day of the
Lord. Amos begins with the announcement of the judgment of the
surrounding nations, while Obadiah is chiefly concerned with the
judgment of Edom. Jonah is diflFerent from all the rest in his miraculous
experience, while Micah has a character of his own. Nahum, as we
saw, has the one great message of the doom of Nineveh, and brings
comfort to God's people. Habakkuk again is different from all the
rest. In Nature God displays as Creator a wonderful diversity, and
so in His revelation His Spirit uses every instrument in His own way,
as it pleases Him.

Of Habakkuk the same holds good as with most of the other Minor
Prophets; we know nothing of the particulars of his life. It does not
matter much. God knows these holy men, whom he called to make
known His will and the future, and He has kept the record of their
lives, as He keeps the record of all our lives.

His name means "to embrace," but it has the double meaning "to
embrace" and "being embraced." He embraced his own people and
embraced God in prayer, then "being embraced" — God answered
him. Dr. Martin Luther gave a very striking definition of his name,
which cannot be improved upon. "Habakkuk signifies an embracer,
or one who embraces another, takes him into his arms. He embraces
his people, and takes them to his arms, i. e., he comforts them and holds
them up, as one embraces a weeping child, to quiet it with the assurance
that if God wills it shall soon be better."

It has been assumed that he probably sprang, like Jeremiah and
Ezekiel, from a priestly family, for at the end of the great ode, at the
conclusion of the book, he states — "to the chief singer on my stringed
instruments," from which we may gather that he was officially qualified
to take part of the Temple service. But Isaiah xxviii:20 seems to con-
tradict this.

An apocryphal book, "Bel and the Dragon," states that Habakkuk
was miraculously transported to Daniel, who had been cast a second
time to the lions by Cyrus. This and other legends are without any
foundation at all, and need not be examined, for they are worthless.

THE DATE OF HABAKKUK

As it is with Nahum, so it is with Habakkuk, the superscription does

212 THE PROPHET HABAKKUK

not fix a definite date, but the contents of the book do not leave us in
doubt about the time when this man of God prophesied.

In the sixth verse of the opening chapter we read, "For, lo, I raise
up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march
through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling places that are
not theirs." He therefore prophesied at the time when the Chaldeans,
or as they are also called the Babylonians, were coming into power,
and soon to be used against the house of Judah, as the Assyrian was
used in judgment with the house of Israel. He prophesied during the
reign of Josiah, that is at the very close of his reign, and a few years
before Nineveh was destroyed, which elevated the Babylonians to the
place of prominence. Some have put the date into the reign of Man-
asseh, the father of Josiah, but this is too early. Josiah died on the
battlefield, and after his son Jehoahaz had reigned three months,
Pharaoh-necho, who had slain Josiah, made Eliakim, the son of Josiah,
king over Judah, and gave him the name of Jehoiakim (see 2 Kings
xxiv:28-37).

THE MESSAGE OF HABAKKUK

The language which Habakkuk used is extremely beautiful. Pro-
fessor Delitzsch speaks of it as follows: "His language is classical
throughout, full of rare and select turns and words, which are to some
extent exclusively his own, whilst his view and mode of presentation
bear the seal of independent force and finished beauty. Notwithstand-
ing the violent rush and lofty soaring of the thoughts, his prophecy
forms a finely organized and artistically rounded whole. Like Isaiah,
he is, comparatively speaking, much more independent of his pre-
decessors, both in contents and form, than any of the other prophets."
"Everything reflects the time when prophecy was in its greatest glory,
when the place of the sacred lyrics, in which the religious life had
expressed itself, was occupied, through a still mightier interposition on
the part of God, by prophetic poetry with its trumpet voice." Much
in his message is in the form of communion with the Lord. He begins
with the familiar heart-cry, "O Lord, how long shall I cry?" He
receives an answer, which announces the coming of the Chaldeans, to
which again the prophet replies. Then he said, "I will stand upon my
watch, and will set me upon the tower, and will watch and see what
He will say unto me" (chapter ii). Then he receives another answer.
The judgment of Judah by the Chaldeans as well as the overthrow of the
Chaldeans, on account of the deification of their power, is the prophetic
message with which he starts.

Sublime is the great lyric ode contained in the third chapter, which
begins with a prayer (chapter iii). It is one of the greatest descriptions
of the Theophany, the Coming of the Lord, which the Spirit of God has
given. He comes in glory and in wrath; the wicked are overthrown.
His people are saved. It waits for its great fulfillment when our Lord

THE PROPHET HABAKKUK 21S

Jesus Christ shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire with His
holy angels.

THE DIVISION OF HABAKKUK

The division is very simple. Chapter i forms the first part and gives
the coming invasion of Judah by the Chaldeans. In chapter ii the
"Woe" is pronounced upon the Chaldeans and their destruction is
predicted. The third chapter contains the Vision of the Coming of the
Lord, with which all the ungodly world powers terminate, and the
dominion of the Gentiles ends.

Inasmuch as the Authorized Version contains numerous incorrect
renderings, we give a complete text in a metric version.

214 TEE PROPHET HABAKKUK

The Prophet Habakkuk

CHAPTER I

1. The Burden, which Habakkuk, the prophet, saw.

2. How long, O Lord, must I cry
And Thou hearest not?

I cry to Thee: Violence!
And Thou dost not help.

3. Why dost Thou show me iniquity.
And cause me to behold grievance?
Oppression and violence are before me;
There is strife, and contention ariseth.

4. Therefore the law is slacked;
And justice doth never go forth

For the wicked compass about the righteous;
Therefore justice goes forth perverted.

5. Behold ye among the nations and regard!
And wonder marvellously;

For I work a work in your days

Which ye will not believe, though it were told.

6. For behold! I raise up the Chaldeans,
That bitter and impetuous nation.

Which march through the breadth of the earth.
To possess dwelling-places that are not theirs.

7. They are terrible and dreadful.

Their judgment and dignity proceed from themselves.

8. Swifter than leopards are their horses.
And fiercer than the evening wolves.
Their horsemen shall spread themselves.
And their horsemen shall come from afar.
They fly like an eagle hastening to devour.

9. All of them come for violence;
The host of their faces is forward;
And they gather captives like the sand.

THE PROPHET HABAKKUK 215

10. Yea, he scofFeth at kings.

And princes are a derision unto him.

He laughs at every stronghold

For he heapeth up earth and taketh it.

11. Then he sweepeth by as a tempest
And shall pass over and be guilty.
He whose might is his god.

12. Art Thou not from Everlasting,
Jehovah, my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die!

Jehovah! Thou has appointed them for judgment;
And Thou, O Rock! Thou has established him for chastise-
ment.

13. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil;
Thou canst not look upon injustice.

Why lookest Thou upon the treacherous?
Why art Thou silent when the wicked destroys
The man that is more righteous than he?

14. And Thou raakest men like fishes of the sea.
Like reptiles that have no ruler.

15. All of them he lifts up with the hook.
He catcheth them in His net

And gathers them in his drag;
Therefore he rejoices and is glad.

16. Therefore he sacrificeth to his net.
And burneth incense to his drag.
Because by them his portion is rich.
And his food plenteous.

17. Shall he, therefore, empty his net.

And spare not to slay the nations continually?

CHAPTER n

1. I will stand upon my watch.
And set nie upon the tower.
And I will wait to see M'hat He will say to me.
And what I shall answer as to my complaint.

216 THE PROPHET HABAKKUK

i. And Jehovah answered me and said:

Write the vision and make it plain on tablets.
That he may run that reads it.

3. For the vision is yet for the appointed time,
And it hastens to the end, and shall not lie;
Though it tarry, wait for it;

Because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

4. Behold the proud:

His soul is not right within him;
But the just shall live by his faith.

5. And moreover, wine is treacherous;

A haughty man, that keepeth not at home:
Who enlargeth this desire as Sheol,
As death he is and cannot be satisfied.
And gathereth all nations to himself
And heapeth unto him all peoples.

6. Will not all these take up a song against him?
And a taunting proverb against him, and say:
Woe to him who increaseth what is not his own!
How long.'*

And that ladeth himself with pledges.

7. Will not thy biters rise up suddenly.

And those awake that shall shake thee violently?
And thou wilt become a prey to them.

8. Because thou hast plundered many nations.

All the remnant of the peoples shall plunder thee;

Because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land,

To the city and all that dwell therein.

9. Woe to him that procureth a wicked gain for his house.
To set his nest on high.

To secure himself from the hand of disaster.

10. Thou has devised shame for thy house.

By cutting off many peoples, and sinning against thyself.

11. For the stone crieth out from the wall.

And the beam out of the wood-work answers it.

THE PROPHET HABAKKUK 217

18. Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood.
And founds a city by iniquity.

13. Behold is it not from Jehovah of hosts.
That the peoples labor for the £re,

And the nations weary themselves for vanity?

14. For the earth shall be filled

With the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah,
As the waters cover the sea.

15. Woe to him that giveth his neighbor to drink.
Pouring out thy fury, and also making drunk.
In order to look upon their nakedness.

16. Thou are filled full with shame instead of glory.
Drink thou also, and be like the uncircumcised:

The cup of Jehovah's right hand shall be turned to thee.
And vile shame shall be upon thy glory.

17. For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover thee.

And the destruction of wild beasts which made them afraid.

Because of the blood of men, and the violence done to the

land,

To the city and all that dwell therein.

18. What profiteth a graven image, that its maker has carved?
The molten image, and the teacher of lies.

That the maker of his image trusts therein, to make dumb
idols?

19. Woe to him that saith to the wood, Awake;
To the dumb stone. Arise!

Shall it teach? Behold it is overlaid with gold and silver;
And there is no breath in its inside.

20. But Jehovah is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth be silent before Him.

CHAPTER IH

1. A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, set to Shigionoth.

£. O Jehovah! I have heard the report of Thee. I am afraid!
O Jehovah! revive Thy work in the midst of the years;
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.

£18 THE PROPHET HABAKKUK

3. God Cometh from Teman,

And the Holy One from Mount Paran. — Selah.
His glory covereth the heavens,
And the earth is full of His glory.

4. His brightness is like the sun;
Rays are streaming from His hand;
And there is the hiding of His power.

5. Before Him goeth the pestilence;
And fiery bolts follow His feet.

6. He standeth and measureth the earth;
He looketh and maketh nations tremble;

The everlasting mountains are broken to pieces;
The eternal hills sink down:
His goings are as of old.

7. I saw the tents of Cushan in trouble;
The tent-curtains of Midian are trembling.

8. Was it against the rivers Thou wert displeased, O Jehovah?
Was Thine anger against the rivers?

Was Thy fury against the sea?

That Thou didst ride upon Thy horses.

In Thy chariots of victory?

9. Thy bow is made completely bare;

Rods (of chastisement) are sworn by Thy Word,
Thou cleavest the earth with rivers.

10. The mountains saw Thee, and trembled;
The flood of waters passeth over;

The deep uttereth its voice.
And lifteth up its hands on high.

11. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation;
At the light of Thine arrows, which flew.

At the slinging of Thy glittering spear.

12. In wrath Thou marchest through the earth;
In fury Thou treadest down the nations.

THE PROPHET HABAKKUK 219

13. Thou goest forth for the salvation of Thy people.
For the salvation of Thine anointed;

Thou dashest in pieces the head out of the house of the

•wicked.

Laying bare the foundation even to the neck. — Selah.

14. Thou piercest with his own staves the chief of his warriors.
That rush on like a whirlwind to scatter me;

Their rejoicing is to devour the poor secretly.

15. Thou treadest upon the sea with Thine horses.
The swelling of mighty waters.

16. I heard, and my bowels trembled;
My lips quivered at the sound;
Rottenness entered my bones;
And I trembled in my place.

That I might rest in the day of trouble

When he that approaches the nation presseth upon it.

17. For though the fig-tree shall not blossom.
Neither shall fruit be in the vines;

The fruit of the olive tree fails
And the fields shall yield no food;
The flock shall be cut off from the fold.
And there shall be no cattle in the stalls.

18. Yet will I rejoice in Jehovah,

I will joy in the God of my salvation.

19. Jehovah, the Lord, is my strength.
And makes my feet like the hinds'.

And will make me to walk upon mine high places.
(For the Chief Musician, on my stringed instruments.)

220 THE PROPHET HABAKKUK

Analysis and Annotations

THE JUDGMENT OF JUDAH THROUGH THE
CHALDEANS ANNOUNCED

CHAPTER I

1. The Prophet's Cry to Jehovah. 1-4.

2. The Answer. 5-11.

3. The Prophet's Plea. 12-17.

1. The Prophet's Cry to Jehovah: Verses 1-4. The

prophet begins his message witli a prayer-cry to Jehovah.
He whose name is "the embracer" embraces the Lord and
cries to Him on account of the conditions prevailing in
Judah. The Spirit of God stirred up the heart of Habakkuk
on account of the moral conditions in Judah. He is jealous
for Jehovah's glory, which manifested itself in hating the
evil. "There is no prophetic delivery among the twelve
lesser books more peculiar and characteristic than that of
Habakkuk. It has no longer the occupation with the enemy
as its main feature, although the enemy is referred to; but
for its prominent topic we find the soul of the prophet, as
representing the faithful among Judah, brought into deep
exercise, and indeed a kind of colloquy between God Him-
seK and the prophet, so as to set out not only that which
gave him trouble of heart, but also divine comfort, as well
as into exulting hope into which he was led by the com-
munications of the Spirit of God."

Like Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, Habakkuk is deeply
stirred on account of the declension among the people of
God, and that led him to cry to Jehovah, to tell Him all
about it. He begins with "How long, O Lord." It is
the cry of the saints of God in all generations. We, too, in the
midst of the increasing apostasy, the perilous times, cry to
Him, "How long, O Lord." He had cried and there seemed
to be no answer. Heaven was silent. And with him the
righteous among the Jews had cried for help and for a change

THE PROPHET HABAKKUK ^221

of conditions, under which they were suffering affliction.
Wickedness and violence were evident on all sides. Strife
and contention were the continued order of things. They
injured each other wherever they could. The Law of God
was completely flouted; there was no more justice, and the
wicked compassed about the righteous.

2. The Answer; Verses 5-11. Jehovah speaks and an-
swers the complaint of His servant. He is going to raise up
the Chaldeans to chastise His wayward people. The Lord
is calling on His people, that they should see now what He
was going to do. "Behold ye among the nations, and regard,
and wonder marvellously; for I work a work in your days,
which ye will not believe though it were told you." The
meaning is that they should look around among the nations,
the faithless ones among tlie Jews, and see how the storm
would gather and ultimately break over the head of the house
of Judah. He would work a judgment work, which they
would not believe, it would be an unparalleled occurrence,
amazing and terrible. This passage is quoted by the Apostle
Paul in Acts xiii:41 and applied to the unbelievers and
despisers of the Gospel. In the quotation the Spirit of God
led the Apostle to omit the address to the nations, and sub-
stituted for it "Ye despisers." While in Habakkuk's day
God was about to work a work of judgment, which the un-
believers would not believe when they heard of it, we note
that Paul preached the Gospel; he has reference to speak-
ing to the Jews in the synagogue; preached the Gospel unto
them, and they did not believe. Then He worked a work
which they would not believe, in sending that Gospel far
hence to the Gentiles (Acts xxvii) while the unbelieving Jews
would be dispersed among the nations.

In verse 6 the instrument of chastisement is announced,
and afterward described. A new power would arise, the
Chaldeans. They would make an invasion, and possess
dwelling places which were not theirs, that is, they would
set out for a widespread conquest and take away the dwell-
ing place of Judah. They were to be the instrument in the
hand of God to mete out judgment to the Jews and humble

222 THE PROPHET HABAKKUK

them, as well as other nations. The Chaldeans, called in
Hebrew Hakhadsim were of Semitic origin, springing from
Kesed, the son of Nahor, and brother of Abraham (Gen.
xxii:22). Jeremiah, who also announced the Chaldean in-
vasion, speaks of them in the following manner: "Lo, I will
bring a nation upon you from afar, O house of Israel, saith
the Lord; it is a mighty nation, an ancient nation, a nation
whose language thou kno\\est not, neither understandest
what they say. Their quiver is an open sepulchre, they are
all mighty men. And they shall eat up thine harvest, and
thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat,
they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds; they shall eat
up thy vines and thy fig-trees; they shall impoverish thy
fenced cities, w^herein thou trustest, with the sword. Never-
theless, in those days, saith the Lord, I will not make a full
end of you" (Jer. v:15-18). Their terrible onslaught is here
compared with the swiftness of the leopards, their fierceness
with the prowling evening wolves, and their horsemen in
their dash with the eagle's flight. They come for violence
and know no defeat, for their faces are always forward. They
make prisoners like the sand, and mock all attempts to check
their advance; kings and princes are ridiculed and all strong-
holds are quickly reduced.

But as he is victorious the Chaldean becomes proud and
forgets that he was but used as an instrument in the hand of
God to deal with those who had done evil. As a result, they
imputed their power to their own god, and do not give God
the honor and the glory. His own might is his god. Then
comes the day when the Lord takes the Chaldean in hand for
judgment and deals with him, as He dealt with other nations.
Nebuchadnezzar, the first great king of Babylon, after his
humiliating experience, acknowledged the God of Heaven,
but his grandson Belshazzar praised the Babylonian idol-
gods, at his licentious feast, dishonoring the temple vessels.
Then followed the judgment of the Chaldeans in the over-
throw of Babylon.

3. The Prophet's Plea: Verses 12-17. The prophet had
listened to the terrible announcement from the lips of

THE PROPHET HABAKKUK 223

Jehovah, what, ^^■as to befall his nation. How it must haxe
shocked the :-iian of God! But he knows the comfort and
expresses it in faith at once. "Art Thou not from everlasting,
O Jehovah, my God, my Holy One? we shall not die!" He
knows Jehovah as the faithful God, the covenant-keeping
God. Such a God will surely not permit the nation, to whom
He has pledged His Word, to be wiped out. His faith lays
hold on that and he realizes that the Lord is using this
enemy for correction, to chastise His people. And further-
more in his plea he says, "Thou art of purer eyes than to
behold evil. Thou canst not look upon injustice." Would
He, the righteous God, look on unconcerned at the wicked
deeds of the Chaldeans? Can He remain silent to all their
deeds of violence? If such is the case, the prophet asks
next, "Why lookest Thou upon the treacherous; why art
Thou silent when the wicked destroys?" It is the voice of
the godly remnant here, seen suffering with the nation. It
brings before us the same question concerning the suffering
of the righteous.

The Chaldean took men as if they were fishes; as a fisher-
man puts out the net and the drag, so they catch men by
the net and the drag. Gathering in the poeple with their
wealth, he rejoices and is glad. Then the prophet takes up
the statement given by the Lord that the Chaldean would
offend, and fall by his pride, and the worship of his false gods,
He sacrifices to his net; he burns incense; he makes the thing
which prospers him his idol, his god. Is this then to go on
continually? Shall he who empties his net, and throws it
out to catch more, to do this again with the nations forever?

Such was the plea of Habakkuk, after the announcement
of the coming chastisement of the Jews by the Chaldean
He laiows that the affliction could not continue forever, for
God is a covenant -keeping God, and of purer eyes than to
behold evil, a holy and a righteous God.

224 THE PROPHET EABAKKUK

THE UNGODLINESS OF THE CHALDEANS AND THEIR
DESTRUCTION

CHAPTER n

1. The Waiting Prophet and the Message He Received. 1-4.

2. The Five-fold Woe upon the Chaldeans. 5-20.

1. The Waiting Prophet and the Message He Received:
Verses 1-4. It seems there was no immediate answer to the
plea of the prophet. He then speaks to himself and expresses
his attitude. "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon
the tower, and I will wait to see what He will say to me, and
what I shall answer as to my complaint." He watches like
a sentinel upon a watch-tower for the answer the Lord will
give him. It does not mean that the prophet actually
ascended a tower, but he expresses his innermost attitude
by the symbol of a watchman. He remained silent and
eagerly looked for the reply.

How long he waited is not stated. But the answer came,
for the Lord never disappoints His inquiring and waiting
servants. He is told to write the vision and make it plain
upon the tablets, that he may run that readeth it. Thus the
Lord spoke to him and gave him the vision, which he was to
write in plain characters upon tablets. The effect should be
not that he that rtmneth may read (as it is sometimes mis-
quoted) but that he that readeth may run. The Prophetic
Word is always plain. It is far from being the deep and
complicated portion of God's Truth that some make it, but
it needs an ear opened by the Spirit of God. Prophecy
believed is a great stimulating agent to Christian service,
even as it is stated here, that the reader of the vision runs to
spread the message.

In the next place we hear of the certainty of the vision. It
is for the appointed time. It hastes toward the end, and
shall not lie. The prophet is commanded to wait for it,
though it tarry, and then receives the assurance that it will
surely come and not tarry. These are important instruc-
tions by which many a believer might profit. God has an
appointed time for all His purposes and their fulfillment.
He cannot be hastened, for His schedule was made before

TEE PROPHET HABAKKUK 225

N ■'
the foundation of the world. When the appointed time
comes all visions will be accomplished. It hastens toward
the end. That end is the end of the times of the Gentiles,
which began with the rising of the Babylonians, and the
first great king, Nebuchadezzar, the golden head in the
prophetic image of Daniel ii. When the end of the times of
the Gentiles comes, the world-power then, final Babylon
as revealed in the last Book of the Bible, will be judged and
the Lord will be manifested in all His glory. The prophet's
business is, as well as that of every believer, to wait for it
and not to be disturbed if there is delay, for the assurance
is given that it will surely come and not tarry. And here
faith can rest.

Part of this is quoted in the Epistle to the Hebrews.
"For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and
will not tarry" (Heb. x:37). From this quotation we learn
that the vision which will surely come is a person, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the center of every vision and without
Him there is no vision. The Septuagint translation is the
same: "If He tarry wait for Him, for coming He will come
and not delay."

In the fourth verse, which may properly be taken to be
the opening statement for the vision which follows, the all
importance of faith in the vision is made known. The proud
one who is mentioned must primarily be applied to the
haughty Chaldean, but it is equally true of the unbelieving,
proud Jew, and of the nominal Christian. The proud, the
puffed up one, his soul is not right within him, and God
resisteth the proud, while he that humbleth himself shall be
exalted.

"But the just shall live by faith." Criticism has not left
this matchless sentence untouched. The Higher Critic
Davidson labors to show that the Hebrew word for faith
(Emujioh) means faithfulness, dealing in faithfulness in
money matters, that is, one who deals honestly. According
to his statement the verse means if an Israelite, or anybody
else, does right he will live. But in Genesis we read, "Abra-
ham believed the Lord and He counted it to him for righte-

226 THE PROPHET HABAKKUK

ousness." As every intelligent Christian knows, there was
no Law then, and the New Testament in the testimony of
the Holy Spirit makes it plain that this is the Gospel of
Grace in which the ungodly are justified; justified by faith.
Interesting is the quotation of the sentence "the just shall
live by faith" in the three passages of the New Testament
Epistles.

Romans i:17 quotes this sentence. In this passage the
emphasis is upon the word "just." The theme of Romans is
the Righteousness of God, at least in the opening chapters.
It shows how a person, a lost and guilty sinner, becomes
righteous, and as such is saved. "For by grace are ye saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God: not of works, lest any man should boast."

In Galatians iii:ll the emphasis is upon the word "faith."
"But no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, as it
is evident: for, the just shall live by faith."

In Hebrews x:38 the emphasis is upon "live." "For yet
a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not
tarry. Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draw
back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."

2. The Five-fold Woe upon the Chaldeans: Verses 5-20.
The Lord uncovers the wicked conditions prevailing among
the Chaldeans. God had allowed the people whom He
loved to be chastised by an evil instrument; they were to be
crushed by injustice and by the actions of the cruel invader.
But the character and conduct of the oppressor, the Chal-
deans, was not unknown to Him, as the prophet expressed
it, "Who is of purer eyes than to behold evil." And now the
righteous Lord announces the five-fold woe upon the wicked
world-power. While all this applies primarily to the Chal-
dean, it is likewise a prophecy concerning the future. The
world powers remain the same to the end of the times of the
Gentiles. It was true then, as it is true now, and will be true in
the future throughout this present age, "The world lieth in
the Wicked One." There is no improvement to be looked
for among the world powers, and as we have seen so fre-
quently in the study of the prophets, the end of the age

THE PROPHET HABAKKUK 227

brings still greater opposition and defiance of God, with a
corresponding moral decline. We see therefore in these
verses a description of the world conditions down to its very
end. The word 'Svine" does not need to be interpreted in a
literal way, though drunkeness was one of the sins of the
Babylonians. They were inflamed with an ambition for
conquest, like a drunken man is inflamed with wine. This
intoxication made them treacherous, haughty, restless:
like death, which is never satisfied, so they are never satis-
fied; constantly pressing on they spoil the nations, gather
prisoners and act in violence. How can God permit this to
go unjudged.

Then follows a taunting song in verses 6-7. Divine
retribution is coming for them. The spoiler is going to be
spoiled. It is the retribution which may be read in all his-
tory, which still continues, for of nations it is true as of
individuals, "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also
reap."

The second woe is on account of their covetousness and
their self-aggrandizement. Like Edom, they were possessed
by an abominable pride to make their nest high, they imagine
self-security, thinking they can avert "the power of evil."
But their proud plans were to result in shame; their security
would end in collapse and confusion. It is well known how
Nebuchadnezzar manifested this spirit. One day this proud
monarch walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
"The king spake and said. Is not this great Babylon, that I
have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my
power and for the honor of my majesty." The humiliation
which came upon the king is prophetic. Thus the Lord will
humble the proud world-power into the dust (Dan. iv).

Then comes a third Woe. Verses 12-14 are of special
interest, for they give us a picture of a godless civilization
and its appointed end. Their cruel oppression, their un-
godly gains, had built up a magnificent city. Excavations
have shown what a marvelous civilization was in force when
Babylon was mistress of the world. But the foundations of
it all were iniquity and the blood of victims. Is it any better

228 THE PROPHET HABAKKUK

today? We have seen the top-notch of a boasted civilization,
steeped in iniquity and defiance of God, suddenly collapsing
and producing a war of horrors and cruelty which makes the
conquests and atrocities of the Chaldeans pale into insig-
nificance.

And how true it is today, "The peoples labor for the fire,
the nations weary themselves for vanity." The day is
approaching when this civilization will be swept away, and
before the better things come, the kingdom is established and
lie reigns whose right it is, there will be the fires of judgment.
And after that it will be true, as it cannot be true before,
"'The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of
the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."

The fourth woe shows the corruption which held sway in
the Babylonian empire. Drunkeness here is a figure of the
utter prostration of the nations which the Chaldeans had
conquered; they stripped them in their wicked endeavors of
all they possessed. They spread a shameless dissolution in
every direction. For this they will have to drink the cup of
fury from the hand of the Lord, and shall be covered with
vile shame, so that their glory will be blotted out.

The fifth woe is on account of their idolatry. They wor-
shipped wood and stone. Nebuchadnezzar set up his golden
image in the plain of Dura and demanded worship for it.
The spiritual Babylon, Rome, is a well-organized system of
idolatry which goes on undiminished. Finally the age ends
in idolatry, for the image of the Beast of Revelation xiii is
still future.

"But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth keep
silence before Him." First, by way of contrast, their idols
are dumb; Jehovah, the God of Israel, is the living God.
He is in His holy temple; from there He takes notice of the
doings of men. He is the Sovereign, the only Potentate;
the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the
small dust of the balance (Isa. xl:15). "It is He that sitteth
upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are
as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a cur-

TEE PROPHET HABAKKUK 229

tain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell In" (Isa..
xl:22).

But this closing verse of the chapter of woe has a prophetic
meaning. When at last the world-power is dethroned, when
the Lord returns. He will take His place as King of Kings.
He will be in His holy Temple, and then all the earth will
keep silence before Him.

THE VISION OF THE COMING OF THE LORD
CHAPTER m

1. The Prophet's Prayer. 1-2.

2. The Coming of the Lord for Judgment and Redemption. 3-15.

3. The Effect upon the Prophet. 16-19.

1. The Prophet's Prayer: Verses 1-2. Once more we
hear the voice of the man of God in prayer. Shigionoth is
the plural of Shiggaion, and is found in the superscription
of Psalm vii. Its meaning is "loud crying." The connection
with the seventh Psalm is interesting. In that Psalm God
appeared to David as the God of judgment, the righteous
God who must save His righteous people and condemn the
wicked. (See Annotations on Psalm vii.) The prophet had
listened to the message and penned it as we have it in the
preceding chapter. It struck terror to his heart and he
trembled. Therefore he pleads for a revival of the Lord's
work in the midst of the years. He must have taken a hasty
glance over the past history of his people, how God had
worked in their behalf in Egypt, redeemed them, led them
forth, and the many evidences of the display of His power
in behalf of the elect nation. And now, in the midst of years,
he asks a revival of this work, the interposition of Jehovah,
that He may be known in His power. The text is often
quoted in pleading a revival among the dead conditions of
Christendom. But it is the revival of the work of the Lord
in a very different sense of the word, as we have indicated.

He knows that wrath is on the way. Not only wrath for the
Chaldeans, but for his people, that the unbelieving, the
apostates, would also have to face the judgment. Therefore
he pleads, "In wrath remember mercy." Such is the way

230 THE PROPHET HABAKKUK

of God always. Judgment is His strange work, and mercy
is mingled with His judgments. It will be so in connection
with the winding up of this present age, when judgment
wrath sweeps over the earth, and especially Israel's land;
He then will have mercy upon His people. The time of
wrath will be His time of mercy, the covenant mercies
promised to Israel. "Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon
Zion, for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come."
And when will that be? When the Lord shall build up Zion;
He shall appear in His glory (Psa. cii:13-16).

The great inspired ode which follows is one of the greatest
sections of Prophecy. It is a wonderful theophany the
Spirit of God describes. Wrath and Mercy are manifested,
so that it is an answer to the prophet's plea, "In wrath
remember mercy."

It has been said, "The poet describes a great storm, ad-
vancing from the south, the region of Paran and Sinai. In
the dark storm clouds he conceives Jehovah to be concealed;
the lightning flashes which illumine heaven and earth dis-
close glimpses of the dazzling brightness immediately about
him; the earth quakes, the hills sink, and the neighboring
desert tribes look on in dismay" (Canon Driver). Thus
Higher Criticism reduces one of tlie sublimest inspired
prophecies, concerning the future appearing of the Lord, to
the level of poetry.

The great description of His coming must be linked with
similar prophecies (See Deut. xxxiii:!2; Psa. xviii:8-19, 33, 34;
Psa. lxviii:8, 34; Psa. Ixxvii: 17-21). The great ode, cast in
the form of a Psalm, begins with the statement that God
cometh from Teman and the Holy One from Moimt Paran.
Moses in his prophetic blessing also begins with a similar
declaration. "The Lord came from Sinai, and rose from
Seir unto them; He shined from Mount Paran, and He came
witli the thousands of His saints (angels); from His right
hand went a fiery law for them." Just as He was mani-
fested when He had redeemed them out of Egypt, and con-
stituted them His Kingdom people at Sinai (Exod. xix), so
will He appear again to deliver the remnant of His people

TEE PROPHET HABAKKUK 231

from the dominion of the world-power, and judge them as
He judged Egypt. He comes from the direction of Edom,
for Teman is the southern district of Idumea, while Paran is
more southward. Isaiah also beheld him advancing from
the same direction. "Who is this that cometh from Edom,
with dyed garments from Bozrah?" (Isa. lxiii:l-6). It is
unfortimate that the Authorized Version has "God came
from Teman," when it is "God cometh," not a past but a
future event. After this opening statement the first Selah
is put. This means to pause and to lift up. We are to pause
and meditate, and then to lift up our hearts and voices in
praise and thanksgiving. It is found seventy-one times in
the Psalms and three times in this chapter of Habakkuk.

His glory covers the heavens, while the earth is filled
with His praise. Heaven and earth reflect the glory of the
Coming One. How all this corresponds with the divine
statements concerning His Coming in the New Testament
does not need to be pointed out. He comes in power and
great glory, in the clouds of heaven, as Daniel beheld Him
in the night vision, and as our Lord testified Himself.
Brightness fills the sky as He appears in person, while out of
His hand glory rays emanate, the hiding of His power. The
picture is evidently taken from the rising sun, which shoots
forth great rays, heralding its ascending. As Delitzsch
remarks, "His hand" means in a general sense, as signifying
the hand generally, and not a single hand only. May we
not have here a hint of His hands pierced once, but now
emanating glory .'* Before Him goes the pestilence, in-
dicating the trouble which precedes His Coming, when the
four apocalyptic riders bring war, famine, pestilence and
death in judgment for this earth.

With the sixth verse He draws nearer. Up to this point
in the theophany He is described as coming forth, like the
sun out of His chamber, heaven and earth reflecting His
glory, but now He stands and measures the earth; He looks
and the nations tremble, while all creation is affected, and
earthquakes shake down the mountains.

Then the prophet sees the tents of Cushan in affliction
and the curtains of Midian tremble. Cushan means the

232 TEE PROPHET HABAKKUK

Ethiopians, and the Midianites inhabited the Arabian coast
along the Red Sea. The past is seen as a prophecy of the
future. As He once came at Sinai, when the mountains
shook and the hills trembled, and as once the tidings of the
Red Sea disaster inspired terror among the neighboring
nations, so will it be, only on a larger scale, when He comes
in great power and glory.

The verses which follow (verses 8-15) are in the form of an
address to God. The rivers and the seas, and the mountains
feel His wrath; they represent symbolically the nations and
the world-powers. He is seen marching in anger through
the earth and in His fury treading down the nations. It is
a majestic picture the Spirit of God gives of that coming
day of wrath and judgment.

But while He comes thus, executing wrath and judgment
upon the ungodly, He comes in mercy. He goes forth for
the salvation of His people, for the salvation of Thine
anointed, that is, the elect nation and the God-fearing,
waiting remnant of the last days (see Psa. cv:15). And
there will be on the earth in that day the head of the house
of the wicked, the ungodly head, the man of sin, the heading
up of all apostasy and opposition to God. His doom is
predicted in verse 13, followed by another Selah, like verses
3 and 9.

3. The Effect upon the Prophet: Verses 16-19. The
prophet now speaks of his own feeling, which reflects the
feeling of the godly among the Jews when this great theo-
phany becomes history. There is fear and trembling in view
of the coming tribulation. ^Vhen he heard it he trembled;
he is completely prostrated. He desires rest in the day of
trouble, the day when the final enemy of God's people marches
through the land. Then faith is triumphant, and in one of
the most magnificant outbursts the prophet declares his
confidence in his God (verse 17). Such will be the faith of
the godly who pass through the time of great trouble. Finally
he rejoices in the God of his salvation and declares his hope
that his feet will be like hinds' feet to escape to the high
places. Even so the remnant of Israel will be delivei-ed.
We leave the application to the Church-Saints with the reader.

ZEPHANIAH

The Prophet of Zephaniah

INTRODUCTION

Zephaniah is the last of the prophets before the captivity, according
to the arrangement of the Hebrew Bible. Haggai, Zechariah and
Malachi are post-exilic. His name means "Jehovah hides." His
genealogy is traced back for four generations. Zephaniah was the son
of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah.
We have therefore more information concerning him than of most of
the other minor prophets. There must be a reason why these four
generations are given. We believe the reason is to show that he was of
royal descent, the great-grandson of the pious king of Judah, Hezekiah.
Hizkiah is the same as Hezekiah in the Hebrew. Jewish tradition as
well as the reliable rabbinical sources confirm this. The objection that
the royal title is not given in connection witt Hizkiah is insignificant;
at any rate "king of Judah" is mentioned in connection with Josiah
in the first verse of the book of Zephaniah, so that it may have been
left out in connection with Hizkiah on purpose. As to his personal
history we have no further information. It seems as if the Lord has
hidden for a good reason these details of his chosen instruments.

THE DATE OF ZEPHANIAH

The date is given in the first verse. He prophesied in the days of
Josiah the king of Judah. We are therefore not left in doubt about the
time in which he exercised his office as prophet; he was the contemporary
of Jeremiah and Micah. As to the exact time during the reign of
Josiah in which Zephaniah prophesied, we can be quite sure that it was
during the time of the reformation instituted by the king, that is
between the twelfth and eighteenth year; yet the reformation was
still in process and not yet fully completed. The temple must have
been purified from the idol abominations, for Zephaniah presupposes
the maintenance of the temple worship.

THE MESSAGE OF ZEPHANIAH

To understand the message wc must consider the character of the
times in which the prophet lived, and the conditions in Judah. We have
done so already in connection with the annotations on Jeremiah, but
add here another description. As already stated a great reformation
was in progress, which, like all reformation, ended in deformation,
producing a reaction which plunged the house of Judah into the final
apostasy. It seems the reformation was mostly an outward one; in
their hearts the people still had a longing for the idols and the abomina-

236 TEE PROPHET ZEPHANIAH

lions connected with them (i:4). We shall point out in the Annotations
some of the details of the evils prevailing at that time. s

Like the other minor prophets, judgment is announced first, followed
by exhortations to repentance, with the promises of glory for the remnant
of His people when the day of Jehovah is passed and the Lord is King
over all the earth. He proclaims the judgment to come for the whole
earth, as well as upon Judah and Jerusalem, and then gives a fuller
description of the day in which that judgment is to be executed, the
still future day of Jehovah. As we have seen, Obadiah and Joel are
the earliest prophets, and both announced the Day of Jehovah. The
last of the prophets before the captivity bears his additional testimony
to the same day, describing it as a day of wrath, of trouble and distress.
This is the first chapter.

In the second chapter the exhortations begin. He exhorts the nation
to repent and to seek the Lord, so that they might be hid in the day of
the Lord's anger. Then he announced that the day is surely coming
upon all the nations, and that the isles of the nations will not escape.

In the third chapter the prophet shows how the Lord will deal in
judgment also with the ungodly among His people. He announces
His purpose concerning the nations with the expectation that the
godly remnant among the Jews will fear Him then, and receive instruc-
tion and wait for Him.

Then follows the joyous message of the future salvation of the elect
people. It will be a poor afflicted remnant which trusts in the Lord,
which, born again, will be a holy people, separated from evil. This is
followed by the singing times. "Sing, daughter of Zion; shout, O
Israel; be glad and rejoice with all thy heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
The Lord hath taken away thy judgments. He hath cast out thine en-
emy; the King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee; thou
shalt not see evil any more."

THE DIVISION OF ZEPHANIAH

Like Nahum's prophecy, Zephaniah's is one great prophetic
utterance. The division into three chapters, as given in the Authorized
Version, is the correct arrangement, with the exception of the first
eight verses of chapter iii, which should be added to the second chapter.
The subdivisions will be pointed out in the analysis and annotations.

THE PROPHET ZEPHANIAH 237

Analysis and Annotations

THE DAY OF THE LORD, THE DAY OF JUDGMENT
CHAPTER I^

1. The Judgment of all the World. 1-3.

2. The Judgment will Destroy the Evil Doers in Judah. 4-13.

3. The Day of the Lord. 14-18.

1. The Judgment of all the World: Verses 1-3. The

first verse is the superscription, and te^ls us, as pointed out
in the introduction, of the connection of Zephaniah and the
date of his prophecy.

Then comes the announcement of the judgment. It is to
consume all things from off the face of the land, man and
beast, the fowls of heaven, the fishes of the sea, and end the
stumbling blocks of the wicked, that is, their idols and idol
worship. The land is not to be understood as being Israel's
land exclusively; it means the earth. That the judgment
vision of Zephaniah has a wider scope than the land and the
people is fully confirmed by other passages. The great day
comes upon men everywhere (i:17); it is universal (ii:4-15);
all the isles of the nations are mentioned (ii:ll).

2. The Judgment will Destroy the Evil Doers in Judah:
Verses 4-13. It will fall especially upon the house of Judah
and Jerusalem. In the verses which follow we have a des-
cription of the moral conditions of the Jews when Josiah
started his reformation, which prophetically gives us a
picture of the conditions among the Jews when this age
closes, and a portion of them is back in the land of their
fathers, as they are attempting to get it back now through
political Zionism.

The hand of the Lord will be stretched out upon Judah
and Jerusalem. The remnant of Baal will be cut off and
the Chemarim, with the priests. Idolatry, whatever re-
mains of it, should then be completely abolished. "Baal"
was the idol of god of the Phoenicians and Canaanites; the

238 THE PROPHET ZEPHANIAH

word means "lord" or "possessor." With the worship of this
god licentious practices were connected. Chemarim is the
name of the idolatrous priests which conducted the high
places, appointed for this service by the kings of Judah
(see 2 Kings xxiii:5). In verses 5 and 6 other forms of
idolatry are mentioned. They worshipped the hosts of the
heavens from housetops. They worshipped the stars, and
studied their movements as if they could give them help
and a revelation. Astrology, so widely practised among
civilized nations today, is an old cult (see 2 Kings xxi:3, 5;
Jer. viii:2; xix:13). Others used the Holy Name of Jehovah,
and at the same time they used the name of Malcham. All
was a turning back from Jehovah and dishonoring His
Name.

As to the future curse of idolatry among the Jews, the
passage in Matthew xii:43, 45, the words of our Lord, gives
us the full information. The unclean spirit there is the
the spirit of idolatry, from which the Jews in their dispersion
are free; the unclean spirit has left the house. But it is to
return, and the last state is worse than the first: "Even so
shall it be also unto this wicked generation." They will
worship the man of sin, the masterpiece of Satan, who in the
end of the age will take his place in the temple of God
(2 Thess. ii).

The day of the Lord is at hand; a statement which verifies
our interpretation that this prophecy refers to the future
day. The Lord has prepared His sacrifice and bidden his
guests. It is the supper of the great God, to which He
invites His guests. Read in connection with this Revela-
tion xix:17-18. What that day will bring is described
in verses 8-13. All the evil doers will be dealt with by
the Lord.

3. The Day of the Lord: Verses 14-18. The great day of
the Lord is now more fully described. It is tlie day when the
announced judgment will take place. Higher criticism sees
nothing but some invasion of the land by hostile forces.
But it is the same great day, the culmination of the past
ages, when Jehovah is revealed, so vividly described in

TEE PROPHET ZEPHANIAH 239

Joel ii:ll. On that day the voice of the Lord will be
heard (Psa. xxix; Isa. lxvi:6). When that day comes the
mighty man will cry out in bitterness, for he is unable to
save himself from the judgment tempest. In two verses
the prophet describes vividly the greatness of that day.

A day of wrath is that day,

A day of trouble and distress,

A day of ruin and desolation,

A day of darkness and gloom,

A day of clouds and cloudy darkness;

A day of the trumpet and the warcry

Against the fortified cities.

And against the lofty battlements.

Thomas of Celano used in 1250 the Vulgate translation
of the first sentence Dies irae, dies ilia in writing his famous
judgment hymn. It is well to compare Scripture with
Scripture about that day. (For instance, verse 15 with
Joel iii; Amos v:18, 20; viii:9; Isaiah xiii:10, and many
other passages.) When that day comes the wicked will
perish; distress will be upon all. They will walk like blind
men, that is, trying to find a way to escape, but not able
to find one. Nothing will be able to deliver from the fury
of that day, neither silver nor gold will avail anything.

THE CALL TO REPENTANCE IN VIEW OF THE JUDGMENT

CHAPTERS n-ra-8

1. The Call to Repentance. 1-3.

2. The Judgment of the Philistines. 4-7.

3. The Judgment of Moab and Ammon, 8-10.

4. The Judgment of other Nations. 11-15.

5. The Woe and Warning to Jerusalem and His People,
iii:l-8.

1. The Call to Repentance: Verses 1-3. As we found it in
Joel, so it is here. In view of the coming of the day, the call
goes forth to the nation to humble themselves and to repent.
On the near horizon in Joel the Assyrian invasion was
threatening. In Zephaniah it is the Babylonian power.
But all points to the future day of the Lord. They are to

240 THE PROPHET ZEPHANIAH

gather themselves together. The word used for "gather"
has the meaning of gathering stubble or wood for burning.
In their unbelief they were worthless as stubble and dry
wood, fit for the burning. The phrase "not desired" has
been translated "which does not turn pale." But this
cannot be sustained. The better meaning is "unashamed."

The second verse gives the reason why they should humble
themselves and be ashamed of all their evil doings. Because
the decree of judgment has gone forth, the fierce anger of
the Lord in His day is about to pass as the chaff. This is
followed by the appeal to seek the Lord. This is addressed
to the meek in the land, the godly remnant which fears the
Lord, both in Zephaniah's day and in the end of the age,
when "that day" comes. They are meek and seek to keep
the statutes and judgments of the Lord in a righteous life.
Still they are exhorted to seek meekness. For it is this,
meekness and lowliness, that pleases the Lord. The promise
is held out that they would be hid in the day of the Lord's
anger. Zephaniah means "hidden by the Lord" or "whom
the Lord hides;" his name comes into play as a comfort
that the godly will be hid in the day of the Lord. In Isaiah
we have a more direct word about this. "Come, my people,
enter thou in thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee;
hide thyself as it were for a moment, until the indignation
be overpast" (Isa. 3pcvi:20). This has often been used as a
proof text that the true church is not to pass through the
great tribulation period. But it has nothing whatever to
do with the church, but is the promise given to the godly
remnant (See Rev. xii; the preservation of the seed of the
woman). It is the teaching of the New Testament that the
true church will be taken to her heavenly abode by the com-
ing of the Lord for His saints (1 Thess. iv:13-18; 2 Thess. ii).

2. The Judgment of the Philistines: Verses 4-7. Judg-
ment is to come in that day upon Gaza and Ashkelon, upon
Asdod and Ekron, the chief cities of Philistia. The in-
habitants of the seacoast, the nation of the Cherethites,
and all the land of the Philistines, will undergo judgment.
The seventh verse gives the connection with the opening

THE PROPHET ZEPHANIAH 241

message of the chapter, the call to repentance. "And the
coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they
shall feed thereupon; in the house of Ashkelon shall they lie
down in the evening; for the Lord their God shall visit them,
and turn away their captivity." Because the remnant is to
possess this territory when Philistia is judged they ought to
repent and seek the Lord. That this is still unaccomplished
hardly needs to be pointed out. It was not fulfilled in the
remnant which returned from the Babylonian captivity.
Since the day of their rejection, when they rejected Christ,
they have been out of the land. Here is a prophecy of
ultimate blessing to the remnant in the day of the Lord,
when they will be regathered.

3. The Judgment of Moab and Ammon: Verses 8-10.
Moab and Ammon had sinned against Israel, they reviled
them and magnified themselves against their border. Their
judgment is announced, as it is in the former prophets, like
Joel, Amos and Ezekiel. Moab will be overthrown like
Sodom, and Ammon will become like Gomorrah. Then
when the judgment of Moab and Ammon finally takes place,
as it will in His day, the remnant of His people shall spoil
them, and the remnant shall possess them. It is obvious
this also remains to be fulfilled.

This judgment of Moab and Ammon is the harvest which
their pride and self -exaltation has brought to them (verse 10).

4. The Judgment of other Nations: Verses 11-15. The
Lord, in that day, will be terrible unto all these nations. The
idol gods will all be abolished. In their place He alone will
be worshipped (Zech. xiv). All tlie isles of the nations will
turn in worship to Him. The Ethiopians, the African
nations, will fall under the judgment. He will stretch out
His hand against Assyria, the power of the north, including
both the Assyrian which then was and the Assyrian of the
end-time, still to come. It is evident from verse 13 that
when Zephaniah penned these words Nineveh had not yet
fallen. Her utter desolation is predicted by Zephaniah as it
was predicted by Nahum. The fate of Nineveh announced
was literally accomplished. And some day all the proud

242 TEE PROPHET ZEPHANIAR

cities of the nations, steeped in iniquity, will also fall as
Nineveh was dethroned from her place of mistress of the
world.

5. The Woe and Warning to Jenisalem and to His
People: Chapter iii:l-8. The filthy, polluted and oppressing
city is Jerusalem. Four charges are laid against her. 1. She
obeyed not the voice. 2. She received not correction. 3. She
trusted not in the Lord. 4. She drew not near to her God.
And because she was untrue to her God and Lord, oppressive
cruelty and evil persisted. It was the outcome of her wrong
attitude toward the Lord. Her leaders, the princes, were
like roaring lions, devouring the prey. Her judges in oppress-
ing the poor were like evening wolves, ferocious and des-
tructive. How all this fits Christendom today. There is
disobedience to the Lord, no faith in Him, no humiliation
and no repentance. Hence the moral conditions of today.

Their prophets and priests were also corrupt, as we have
learned before in the former prophets. Yet the holy and
just Jehovah was in the midst of them. Yet the unjust was
not ashamed, but continued in evil-doing.

Then Jehovah addresses the nation: "I have cut off
nations; their towers are desolate; I have made their streets
waste, that none passeth by; their cities are destroyed, so
that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant. I said,
Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so
their dwelling should not be cut off; howsoever I pimished
them, they rose early, and corrupted all their doings." But
they did not heed His plea. They did not take warning
from what happened to other nations.

JUDGMENT AND GLORY
CHAPTER ni.8-20

1. The Waiting for the End. Verse 8.

2. The Glory that Follows. 9-20

1. The Waiting for the End : Verse 8. "Therefore wait for
me, saith Jehovah, for the day when I arise for the prey; for
my determination is to gather the nations, to assemble the

rUE PROPHET ZEPHANIAH 243

kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, all my fierce
anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of
my jealousy," This verse leads us back to the opening
exhortation of this chapter. They are as a nation to wait
for Him, till the day comes in which He arises to execute the
judgment of the nations. It has been a long waiting. Cen-
turies have come and gone; His earthly people have been the
wanderers among the nations of the world, where they have
been a byword and a curse, yet witnesses for Him also.
Still they are waiting for "that day," the day which closes
the times of the Gentiles, when the stone strikes the great
man image and becomes a mountain filling the whole earth
(Daniel ii).

2. The Glory that Follows: Verses 9-20. The openmg
verse of this glory section has been variously interpreted.
It has been used by the "Pentecostal-delusion" as being a
prophecy concerning their imagined gift of tongues restora-
tion. In the first place it must be noticed that in the Hebrew
the word people is in the plural. We read therefore this verse
as follows: "For then will I turn to the nations a pure lip,
that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve
Him with one shoulder." Luther paraphrased this verse in
the following way: "Then will I cause the nations to be
preached to otherwise, with friendly lips, that they may call
upon the name of the Lord." But this interpretation is not
sustained by the text. It means that the nations which
escaped the judgment-wrath of the day of the Lord will be
converted, and as a result of their conversion they will call
upon the Lord with pure lips; all idolatry will cease and all
serve the Lord as one man.

While the peoples in verse 9 are the Gentiles, the suppliants
in verse 10 are Jews brought back from the dispersion. They
are brought back by the converted Gentiles as an offering
unto the Lord (Isa. lxvi:20). When that takes place the
restored nation will not have need to be ashamed for all
their doings, for the Lord in infinite grace will have cleansed
them from their iniquity, and now they are no longer proud
and haughty, but a remnant humbled, trusting in the Lord.

244 THE PROPHET ZEPHANIAH

The great Grace chapter in Ezekiel tells us of the conversion
of this remnant (Ezek. xxxvi). They will then be a righteous
nation, do no iniquity, nor speak lies. The speaking of lies,
the use of deceit, is one of the traits of the Jews today, and
has often been responsible for their sufferings among the
Gentiles. But when that day comes the deceitful tongue
will not be found in their mouth. They will feed and lie
down and none shall make them afraid. They have become
once more "the sheep of His pastures," gathered by the
Good Shepherd. The time of singing and rejoicing has come,

"Sing, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice
With all thy heart,
O Daughter of Jerusalem.

Jehovah has removed thy judgments;
He has cast out thine enemy;
The King of Israel, Jehovah,
Is in the midst of thee;
Thou wilt see evil not more.

In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem,
Fear not Zion, let not thy hands be feeble.

Jehovah thy God is in the midst of thee,

A mighty One who saves;

He rejoices over thee with gladness;

He rests in His love;

He rejoices over thee with singing."

What a glorious day that day will be! It wiU be glory for
Him and glory for His people. The great prophetic song
recorded by Isaiah (chapter xii) wiU then be heard in the
midst of His redeemed people. The great Psalms of praise
and worship will fill Jerusalem. Judgments are forever gone;
no enemy will threaten them again. He Himself is in their
midst, none other but He whom their fathers delivered once
into the hands of the Gentiles, over whom they cried, "His
blood be upon us and our children." He is King. The

THE PROPHET ZEPHANIAH 245

throne of His father David is now filled. The mighty One
saves, and rejoices over His redeemed people. He has the
travail of His soul to the full and is satisfied.

Then He will make them a name and a praise among all
the peoples of the earth. Thus ends the great message of
Zephaniah, the great-great-grandson of the pious King
Hezekiah.

HAGGAI

The Prophet Haggai

INTRODUCTION

Between Zephaniah and Haggai is the period of the captivity of the
house of Judah in Babylon. Haggai is the first of the three post-exilic
prophets, though not the most prominent one, which is Zechariah.

Haggai means "My feast," or perhaps "the Festal one." Nothing is
known of his personal history. He is mentioned in Ezra, chapter v:l
and vi:14. The first verse of the book which bears his name gives us
the date of his prophecy. It was in the second year of Darius the king.
The ki ;g is Darius Hystaspes, and the year is 520 B. C. Two months
later young Zechariah began to lift up his voice likewise. It seems that
Haggai's prophetic office extended over four months only. Some have
concluded from chapter ii :3 that he must have known the first temple.
If he saw that temple he must have been at least 80 years old, if not
older, when he prophesied. But the passage upon which this supposition
rests does not necessarily imply this. He was probably born in the
captivity, and a young man like his greater associate Zechariah.

THE TIMES OF HAGGAI AND ZECHARIAH

In order to understand the prophecies of Haggai as well as Zechariah;
the history contained in the book of Ezra must be carefully studied.
The reader will consult the introduction to the book of Ezra and the
annotations on the different chapters.

We mention here but a few of the leading historical facts of this
period. After the remnant had returned from Babylon the feasts
commanded by the Law were first of all reinstituted. Then in the second
year, 535 B. C, the foundations of the new temple were laid. It was a
time of rejoicing and a time of sorrow. What was this second temple
in comparison with the first house? (see Ezra iii:12, 13). There were
tears of joy and tears of sorrow. Then the building of the temple was
neglected for a time. There were two causes. The indifference, the
faint-heartedness of the people, and the oppositions from the enemy.
The Samaritans, a mongrel race (see Ezra iv:l, 9, 10) offered, after the
foundation of the temple had been laid, to form an alliance with the
Jewish remnant, and to assist them with it. When the proposal was
nobly rejected they employed political means to dwarf the rebuilding
of the house of the Lord, by misrepresentations at the Persian court.
Their schemes, after some time, seemed to be quite successful, when
in reply to their petition to Artaxerxes, 522 B. C, they were told that
the building of the temple must be stopped. Artaxerxes was a pre-
tender, known in history as Pseudo-Smerdis. During the remainder

250 THE PROPHET HAGGAI

of his reign the building was completely stopped; but it lasted about a
year only. His successor, Darius Hystaspes, (521 B. C.) was more
favorable to his Jewish subjects. It was then that Haggai and Zechariah
urged the continuation of the building of the temple in their prophetic
messages. But the slow progress in the building of the temple was not
altogether chargeable to the intrigues of the Samaritans. The remnant
was negligent in this matter to a great extent. During the time when
the house was unfinished many Jews had used their means in erecting
fine dwellings and beautifj'ing them; they acted in a selfish, indifferent
manner.

The harvest also had turned out very poor; the blessing of the Lord
was lacking in all that they did, therefore the prophet spoke then and
told them that all was an expression of the displeasure of the Lord in
neglecting His house. "Ye have sown much and bring in little; ye eat
but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye
clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages, earneth
wages to put it into a bag with holes" (i:6).

These were outward circumstances which led the Spirit of God to
call Haggai to the prophetic oflSce.

THE MESSAGE OF HAGGAI

The purpose of his message has been stated in the preceding para-
graph. But the message goes far beyond his time, and like the former
prophets, leads up to the time of glory. He speaks of the Messiah, our
Lord, as the desire of all nations, and of the times when all nations
shall be shaken; when another house is to be filled with the Lord's
glory. This passage is quoted in Hebrews xii:26, 27, and will be more
closely examined in the Annotatious. Our post-millennial brethren in
their expositions have explained all these promises as being realized
in the church. The second temple is, according to their views, a
prophecy concerning the church. In the language of one: "He an-
nounces that the time is not far off when the privileges of Jehovah's
worship shall be extended over all the earth, and that the treasures of
all nations will then be brought to adorn this temple, and exalt its
glory above the departed splendor of the former house, while peace and
prosperity shall reign among the unnumbered worshippers." But in-
asmuch as none of the prophets knew anything whatever about the
body of Christ, the church, in which there is neither Jew nor Gentile,
this interpretation is incorrect. The church is the mystery which was
not made known in former ages (Eph. iii). Hence Haggai did not
describe the church under the term of the temple, but his prophecy
reaches beyond the church-age to the day of the Lord, when all nations
will be shaken, and the Lord will return and bring with Him the
promised glory.

The message of Haggai is written in a very simple style, quite different

THE PROPHET HAGGAI 251

from the style of the pre-exilic prophets. He makes frequent use of
interrogatives.

THE DIVISION OF HAGGAI

The two chapters contain five addresses. The first address in chapter
i:l-ll is one of reproof and warning, to, arouse the remnant from the
apathy into which they had drifted in the building of the temple. The
second address in chapter i:12-15 was made when the people responded
to his appeal, assuring them of the presence of the Lord in their obedi-
ence. The third address in chapter ii:l-9 contrasts the glory of the
first house with the greater glory of the second house and introduces
the distinctively Messianic glory. The fourth address in chapter
ii:10-19 coi tains moral instructions and the assurance of blessing.
The last address, the conclusion of the message of Haggai, points still
more prominently to the day of the Lord, when heaven and earth is
to be shaken and the kingdoms of the nations will be overthrown. In
the last verse, Zerubbabel, the servant of Jehovah, is a prophetic type
of our Lord.

252 THE PROPHET HAGGAI

Analysis and Annotations

HAGGAI'S FIRST ADDRESS
CHAPTER 1:1-11.

1. The Introduction. 1.

2. The Reproof. 2-6.

3. Consider Your Ways. 7-11.

1. The Introduction: Verse 1. Darius Hystaspes had
been king one year and had entered upon the second year,
520 B. C, when, in the sixth month, in the first day of the
month, the Word of the Lord was given by Haggai. It was
addressed to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of
Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest.
Zerubbabel and Joshua were the prominent civic and re-
Ugious leaders of that day. Zerubbabel was the son of
Shealtiel (which means asking of God in prayer). Zerub-
babel (sow^n in Babylon) was of royal seed, in direct line of
descent from David. In Ezra this princely leader is called
by his Persian name Sheshbazzar. In the genealogy of
Luke iii:27 he is called a son of Neri, a descendant of David
through his son Nathan; he is also called a son of Pedaiah.
These divergent statements have been satisfactorily ex-
plained by the law of the Levirate marriage (see Deut. xxv:
10).

Joshua is mentioned several times in Zechariah. He was
the first high-priest after the captivity, and is called in Ezra
and Nehemiah-Jeshua, the name Joshua transcribed into
Greek. He and Zerubbabel are prophetic types of our Lord
as the King-Priest. Joshua was the son of Josedech (Jehoza-
dak) the high-priest who was taken by the Babylonians
into captivity (1 Chron. vi:15), and was the grandson of
Seraiah, who was put to death by Nebuchadnezzar at
Riblah, after the capture of Jerusalem.

2. The Reproof: Verses 2-6. His message starts with
the excuse which the people offered for their apathy in the

THE PROPHET HAGGAI 253

things of God. "This people say, The time is not come,
the time that the Lord's house should be built." The Lord
does not address them as "My people," but in a way which
is deprecatory. It was an empty excuse, that His time had
not yet come; in reality they were cold towards the cause
of the Lord, and sought their own things in place of it.
In their indifferent spirit they probably took the relation
to Persia, produced by the Samaritan interference, as the
ground of their opinion, that it was not the time to come
and finish the task. They were an ungrateful people and
should have known better. The Lord, who had announced
through Isaiah that Cyrus should be born and say "Let
Jerusalem be built," who raised up Cyrus, whom the prophet
had named so many years before he was born; the Lord
who had brought them back to the land and prospered them,
would certainly give them the victory over all their enemies
and make the building of the house possible. They hid be-
hind the unreasonable excuse, it is not the time. How often
the same excuse has been used by the professing people of
God in our age!

Then the Lord answers them. "Is it a time for you your-
selves to dwell in your ceiled houses, while this house lieth
waste?" They had begun well, as we read in Ezra iii, when
they set the altar upon its bases. But now they had de-
parted from their endeavor; the interest in the one thing
had waned, and selfish aims were substituted. They were
living in luxurious houses, while His house was completely
neglected, it was in a waste condition. The insincerity
of their vain excuse was therefore exposed.

Then comes the exhortation to consider their ways (liter-
ally: set your heart upon your ways). Had it been profitable
for them? No. Ever since they left off building His house
bitter disappointment had been their lot. All their self-
seeking brought them no gain, but steady loss. The Lord's
blessing, given to His earthly people concerning earthly
things, had been withholden. They had sown much seed;
there was a scanty return. They had not been satisfied in
eating or drinking. Their clothing was insufficient. The

254 THE PROPHET HAGGAI

wages they earned may have been good wages, but it was
as if they put them into a bag with holes; the greater part
of them was lost. While all this must be considered on the
ground of the Jew, the principle nevertheless holds good for
us as well. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto
you" (Matt. vi:33), also refers primarily to the believing
Jew, yet it has its application for us. The heart of the be-
liever must always seek Him first. The life of a child of God
must always be devoted to Him and the things of God. Our
business is to care for His things; His gracious business is to
care for us in all things. Neglect of the things of God always
brings the same bitter disappointment.
sfi" 3. Consider your Ways: Verses 7-11. Consider your
ways; the Lord spoke again. And now He commands them
to go to the mountains and fetch wood and to build the house.
He declares that He will take pleasure in it and that He will
be glorified. How graciously He craves the whole-hearted-
ness of His people and their full devotion to HimseK. It
is in worship, indicated by the building of the house, that
we glorify Him. It is worshippers the Father seeketh, wor-
shippers in Spirit and in Truth (John iv).

On account of their neglect, neglect of Himself and the
honor of His Name, as centered in the house, He could not
give the blessing He is so willing to bestow upon His people.
He withheld the dew and the rain; He prevented the fruit-
fulness of the fields, and all else was stimted, on accoimt of
their attitude toward Him.

"It was Jehovah who blighted their selfish efforts. He
was dealing with them on account of their unbelief and
neglect. It was not because He loved them not, but be-
cause He did. 'Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and
scourgeth everj'^ son whom He receiveth.' When the Lord
allows persons to go away without rebuke, it is the sure
sign that all practical bond is broken — if any bond did exist
— that He now disowns them, for a time at least. Hence
these very chastenings of the Jewish remnant were the proof
that His eyes were still over them, and that He felt their

THE PROPHET HAGGAI 255

negligence of Him and resented — in divine faithfiJness — the
failure of His people in the care of His glory."*

THE SECOND ADDRESS

CHAPTER 1:12-15

The Spirit of God carried home the burning message of
rebuke, and that happened which did not happen with the
generation before the captivity. They considered their
ways. They took it to heart. They knew the Lord had
spoken, and that He was right, the rebuke well earned.
Happy are all those who act always in this way, who humble
themselves and are obedient to the Lord. It is a refreshing
scene which the twelfth verse records. They all united,
Zerubbabel, Joshua, and all the remnant of the people.
There was not one dissenting voice. They all obeyed the
Lord and the words of the prophet.

"Then Haggai, the Lord's messenger, spoke again in the
Lord's message unto the people." It is striking how it is
made prominent that he did not speak of himself, but was
the Lord's messenger and brought the Lord's message.
Would to God that all those who claim the dignity of a
minister of the Gospel were all the Lord's messengers, and
spake nothing but the Lord's message. The greatest curse
in Christendom today is the man who claims to be the Lord's
servant, but has no message from the Lord, for the reason
that he has lost faith in the Word of God.

Another has pointed out the fact that Haggai is the one
prophet who is directly called Jehovah's messenger. He is
the least of the post-exilic prophets, yet the Lord puts this
honor upon him. In spite of his inferior style, according to
the critics, the Lord owns him by this title of distinction.

And what was his message at this time? "I am with you,
saith the Lord." That is the content of the second address;
just one sentence. But what a sentence it is! What assur-
ance it brings to the heart, and how it inspires faith to action.
"I am with you, saith the Lord." Such is our blessed assur-

^William Kelly, /

2.56 THE PROPHET HAGGAI

ance. "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the
age." And as we look to Him and trust Him there is power.
The result Avas a mighty revival in the good work. The
Lord stirred them up through His Word, the brief message He
sent. Every true revival begins the same way. It has been
well said, "I am with you, is the saving principle for faith
in the weakest possible day, and let me add, what had they
better in the brightest day.?"

THE THIRD ADDRESS

CHAPTER 11:1-9

Over a month later, after a good deal of work had been
done, the prophet delivered his third message. He is com-
manded to speak to the same company, headed by Zerub-
babel and Joshua; but here the remnant of tlie people, the
exiles who had returned, is also included. If we consult
Ezra iii:10 we find that many old men, who had seen the
temple of Solomon, burst out in weeping when the small
foundation was laid for the new temple. A similar feeling
possessed the people when they resumed the temple work
after Haggai's first message. In comparison with the former
temple, so grand and glorious, the new temple was a feeble
and insignificant affair. The prophet begins his message by
asking, "Who is left among you that saw this house in its
former glory, and how do ye see it now.^^ Is it not in your
eyes as nothing?" No doubt there was additional weeping
when the prophet asked these questions.

Haggai then becomes the Prophet of Comfort and of
Hope. "Yet now be strong" is in literal translation, "And
now be comforted, O Zerubbabel, saith Jehovah; be com-
forted, Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be com-
forted all the people of the land, saith Jehovah; for I am with
you saith the Lord of Hosts." They were discouraged on
account of the smallness of their cause. It is then when the
Lord delights to comfort and to cheer his trusting people.
He was with His people, though now no longer a mighty
host as of old, but only a small remnant; yet had He not

TEE PROPHET IIAGGAI 257

forgotten the Word wliich He covenanted witli the in, when
He brougJit them out of Egypt with an outstretclied arm.
"My Spirit abideth among you; fear ye not." And that
should be enough. His Spirit was dwelling with them to
execute His work, and be their strength. The gift of the
Spirit in New Testament times is something greater than
this. After the finished work of our Lord and His glorifica-
tion, the third Person of the Godliead came in person to
indwell every member of the Body of Christ.

Verses 6-9 contain the great prophecy concerning the
future. It takes us beyond the time of Haggai, past this
present age, and puts before our hearts the same great and
glorious day when Christ comes again, when there shall be
greater glory and peace. The question is, who is the desire
of all nations.'^ It merits a closer examination, for the
critics have labored to explain away the Messianic meaning
of this sentence and rob it of its true meaning. For instance.
Canon Driver in the "Century Bible" makes the following
comment: "The desirable things of all nations shall come,
i. e., their costly treasures will be brought to beautify the
temple." The Hebrew is a peculiar phrase; the subject is a
noun, feminine, singular; the predicate is a plural masculine.
The word "Chemdath" — desire, is the same as used in
Daniel xi:37, the desire of women. If literally translated it
would read thus: "And the desire of all nations, they shall
come." The Septuagint therefore translates it, "the choice
things of all nations shall come;" others have rendered it in
the following ways: "The things desired by all nations shall
come," with the interpretation that it is the Gospel; "all
the Gentiles shall come with their delightful things;" "the
beauty of all the heathen;" "they shall come to the desire
of all nations;" "with the desire of all nations;" the "choicest
of all nations (that is the best of them) will come," etc.
With all these suggested renderings of the difficult phrase
there can be no question that it points to Christ, and must
be interpreted as a great Messianic prophecy. The most
ancient comments are on this line altogether. Christ is the
object of the desire of all nations. This does not neces-

258 THE PROPHET HAGGAl

sarily mean that He is subjectively the desire of the nations,
but He is objectively, for through Him alone the nations can
be blest and receive the righteousness and peace which they
need.

First, the announcement is made, "I will shake the
heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land."
Have these convulsions been? While there have been the
shakings of kingdoms in the political sense, and the earth
has often been shaken physically and otherwise, this proph-
ecy is yet to be fulfilled. The Holy Spirit bears witness to
it in the New Testament, for we read in Hebrews xii :26 and
27, "\\Tiose voice then (at Sinai in a physical manifestation)
shook the earth; but now He hath promised, saying. Yet
once more I shake not the earth only but also heaven. And
the word. Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those
things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that
those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Where-
fore, we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved (the
coming kingdom and not the church) let us have grace,
whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and
godly fear." This settles the question as to the futurity of
this prophecy. Critics have objected to this interpretation
on account of the statement that this universal shaking is
to be in "a little while." They apply it therefore to the
nearer political events of that period. But the future in
prophecy is often fore-shortened, and besides this, the little
while is not man's little while, but God's; with Him a thou-
sand years is as a day. Furthermore, in the political events
of the times which followed the restoration of the Jews from
Babylon not all nations were involved. The prophecy
before us declares, "I will shake all nations;" this, too, is
future. The Messiah, spoken of next as "the desire of all
nations," came the first time, but His coming did not bring
the blessing and the glory to nations as predicted here, nor
did the promised peace come. He made peace in His sacri-
ficial death; the foundation for "peace on earth" was then
laid, as well as for the great future blessing of all the nations.
But the Jews delivered Him into the hands of the Gentiles,

THE PROPHET HAGGAI 259

and the Gentiles treated Him as did the Jews. In anticipa-
tion of His rejection He said, "Think not that I am come to
bring peace, but the sword." Then followed the present
age, unknown with its mystery, the church, to the prophets.
It will close with the shaking of all nations, when the King-
Messiah will appear again and bring the promised blessing
to all nations. The silver and gold, which belong to the
Lord, will then be brought by the nations (Isa. lx:5).

It is important to read the ninth verse in the right way, as
our Authorized Version is incorrect. It does not say in the
Hebrew, "The glory of this latter house shall be greater
than the former," but the Hebrew is, "The latter glory of
this house shall be greater than the former, saith the Lord
of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord
of hosts." The house of course is the temple. The visible
glory dwelt once in the former house; the day is coming
when there will be greater glory, the day of His glorious
manifestation; then in connection with His coming and that
coming restoration. He will give peace.

THE FOURTH ADDRESS

CHAPTER n:10-19

A few months later Haggai delivered another address of
moral instruction and admonition. The question the
prophet asks first is answered by the priests negatively. This
is followed by a second question, "If one that is unclean by
a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean?" This
they answered affirmatively; for he that is defiled puts de-
filement upon everything he handles. When they had given
the right answers, the prophet makes the moral application.
"So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith
Jehovah; and so is every work of their hands; and that
which they offer thereon is unclean." All their works and
offerings were unclean, because they were in that condition.
They had to be cleansed first. Separation from evil, from
that which defiles, was therefore demanded. So it is today.
The order is "cease to do evil" and then "learn to do well."
We are, as Christians, no less exhorted to purge ourselves.

260 THE PROPHET HAGGAI

to separate from evil, and then to become fit vessels for the
Master's use.

And then the Lord challenges them to prove Him, to see
if they separate from evil, are wholly for Him, how faithful
He is going to be to them. "From this day," the day of a
true return to the Lord followed by obedience and separa-
tion, "I will bless you."

THE FIFTH ADDRESS

CHAPTER n:20-23

The final address of Jehovah's messenger is altogether
prophetic. It is addressed exclusively to Zerubbabel, the
governor, a son of David. He tells the princely leader that
the heavens and the earth will be shaken; it is the same as
in verse 6. Wlien that comes the throne of the kingdoms
will be overthrown; the power of the kingdoms of the
nations (the ten kingdoms; Dan. iii) will be destroyed, for
in that day, the falling stone, typifying the Second Coming
of Christ, will make an end of Gentile dominion. The battle
of Armageddon will take place and end the military power
of these nations. Zerubbabel, the son of David, is the type
of Christ, the Son of David. He will then receive the throne
of His father David. He will be made a signet. The signet-
ring was among those nations a mark of honor. It was given
by monarchs to their prime-ministers, conferring all author-
ity upon them. Thus the Lord Jesus Christ is pictured as
receiving from God the rule and authority.

ZECHARIAH

The Prophet Zechariah

INTRODUCTION

Zechariah is the great prophet of the restoration, and, as stated in
the introduction to Haggai, was contemporary with him. The proph-
ecies in both books are dated. These are as follows:

In the sixth month of Darius's second year Hag. chap, i

In the seventh month of the same year Hag. ii:l-9

In the eighth month, the same year Zech. i:l-6

In the ninth month, the same year Hag. ii:10-23

In the eleventh month, the same year Zech. i-vi:15

In the fourth year of Darius, ninth month Zech. vii-xiv

Zechariah is named in Ezra v:l and vi:14; he was of priestly descent,
which we learn by consulting Nehemiah xii:4, 16. His name means
"Jehovah remembers." He was the son of Berechiah, which means
"Jehovah will bless;" and his grandfather's name was Iddo; Iddo
means "the appointed time." These are significant names; one might
say the great prophetic message of Zechariah is given in these three
names in a nutshell. For the covenant-keeping God remembers His
people, which the visions and messages of Zechariah show. When He
remembers them He will bless them, but it will be at the appointed
time, and the appointed time has not yet come, hence the greater part
of Zechariah remains unfulfilled.

He was born in Babylon, and when he returned to the land of his
fathers he was a child. In his vision he is addressed as a young man,
so that he was quite young when called into the responsible position
of a prophet. As to the historical setting of his prophecies, it is the
same as Haggai's, and we refer the reader to what we have said there.

According to ancient sources he lived to be a very old man, and was
buried alongside of Haggai in Jerusalem; but this cannot be verified.
Jewish tradition says that he was a member of the Great Synagogue,
and took an active part in providing for the liturgical service of the
new temple. The Septuagint version of the Old Testament ascribes
to him the composition of Psalms cxxxvii and cxxxviii, and to Haggai
and Zechariah Psalms cxlv-cxlviii; and the same do other versions
like the Peshito and the Vulgate. Some expositors have been so super-
ficial in their statements that they identified him with the Zechariah
who was slain by Joash of Judah, between the temple and the altar,
as mentioned in 2 Chronicles xxiv:20-23.

HIS GREAT MESSAGE

Zechariah in his message does not rebuke the people on account of

264 THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

their slackness in building the house of the Lord, as we learned Haggai
did, though his great prophecies were given to encourage the remnant
in their work. The horizon of Zechariah's visions and prophecies is
far more extended than the horizon of the other minor prophets. He
covers the entire future of Israel and leads onward from his days to
the time when Messiah comes to Jerusalem, when His own received
Him not. He pictures the condition of the nation after the rejection
of Christ, and then leads up to the time of His return and the happy
results which follow the repentance of the remnant, when they shall
look upon Him whom they pierced.

The Gentile world-powers, as prophetically announced in Daniel's
great visions, are seen by him as domineering over Jerusalem; and
how the Lord will finally deal with these powers. The last siege of
Jerusalem, and what is connected with that siege, the tribulation, the
deliverance by the visible coming of the Lord, and the resultant king-
dom, concludes his book. It is indeed a complete prophetic history
of Israel and the times of the Gentiles from the captivity to the end
of these times. His book has rightly been called by the same name
as the last book of the Bible, the Apocalypse — an unveiling. And there
are certain features which identify Zechariah in some measure with
the book of Revelation. Zechariah may well be placed alongside of
Isaiah and Daniel.

THE MESSIANIC PREDICTIONS IN ZECHARIAH

Zechariah has more to say about Christ, His Person, His Work and
His Glory than all the other minor prophets combined. We mention
here the more direct predictions found in the book; there are others,
which will be pointed out in the Annotations.

I. He speaks of Christ as "The Branch." This is one of the names
of our Lord revealed to Isaiah and Jeremiah (Isa. iv:2; Jer. xxiiiro).
Zechariah speaks of Him twice under this title, in chapters iii and vi.

II. A great prediction concerning Christ is found in the sixth
chapter, when the prophet is commanded to order the crowning of
the high-priest, symbolical of our Lord, who is the crowned King-Priest.

III. In chapter ix:9-10 we have the familiar passage quoted in the
New Testament concerning Christ's entrance into Jerusalem. In this
passage the first and the second coming of our Lord are blended together.

IV. He speaks of Him as the Shepherd, and the price of His be-
trayal, the thirty pieces of silver, also quoted in the New Testament.
Chapter xi:12, 13 and Matt. xxvii:9, 10.

V. Another great Messianic prophecy is recorded in chapter xiirlO.
Here His death on the cross is predicted, and that He is the pierced
One, on whom they shall look, on account of whom they shall yet
mourn. (See John xix and Revelation i.)

VI. Still another prophecy relating to the sufferings of Christ is

THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 265

chapter xiii:7. The sword is to awake against the Man, who is the
fellow of God; that sword is to smite Him.

VII. Finally, we mention the passage in the last chapter, where the
prophet describes Him as coming for the salvation of His waiting
people, and that His feet in that day shall stand on the Mount of Olives.
It is He who was seen last standing on the Moimt of Olives, with the
promise of His return "in like manner." As stated before, these pas-
sages are the prominent ones, but not by any means all the predictions
concerning Israel's Messiah.

There is an interesting Jewish work on Zechariah, the Yalkut of
Zechariah. It gives interesting comment on his prophecies. The great
teacher Abarbanel confessed his inability to interpret these visions.
How could he with his denials that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ.
And the much honored Jewish exegete, Solomon Ben Jarchi, declared
"his prophecy is very abstruse, for it contains visions resembling dreams,
which want interpreting; and we shall never be able to discover the
true interpretation until the teacher of righteousness arrives."

That teacher, the Holy Spirit, has come. He guides us now into
all Truth; He makes plain things to come, as revealed in the prophetic
Word. By comparing Scripture with Scripture, and avoiding the
"private interpretation" against which Peter warns (2 Peter i) we
understand the visions, which two of the greatest Hebrew scholars and
teachers declared unexplainable.

266 THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

The Divisions of Zechariah

For a correct understanding of the book, the correct divi-
sions must be first of all ascertained. We give, therefore,
first the scope of the book. After an introduction com-
prising the first six verses of the first chapter, we have the
record of his great Night-visions,

1. The Vision of the Man upon the Red Horse Among
the Myrtles. i:7-17.

2. The Four Horns and the Four Smiths. 1:18-21.

3. The Man with the Measuring Line. Chapter ii.

4. The Vision concerning the Cleansing of the High-Priest.
Chapter iii.

5. The Vision of the Candlestick with the Two Olive
Trees. Chapter iv.

6. The Vision of the Flying Roll. v:l-4.

7. The Woman in the Ephah. v:5-ll.

8. The Vision of the Four Chariots. vi:l-8.

Some have made ten visions out of it instead of eight;
there is no need for that. The vision which they divided is
the one in chapter i:18-21. But this is one vision; and so is
the vision in chapter iv. After these visions had been given
the young prophet was commanded to make crowns of silver
and gold and crown the high-priest. It was a great sym-
bolical action, foretelling Him, who wore on earth the crown
of thorns, and who will be crowned with many crowns when
the night is gone and the day breaks.

This is the first section of the book. The second section is
contained in chapters vii and viii. It is a kind of parenthesis.
Questions concerning certain fasts had been asked by the
prophet; they were answered by the Lord and their interesting
answers are recorded in these two chapters.

TEE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 267

The third section is contained in chapters ix-xiv; it is the
most majestic part of the book. It is arranged in two parts,
each beginning with the phrase "The Burden of the Word
of the Lord." The first Burden is chapter ix:l and
the second is chapter xii:l. It reveals in a remarkable
manner the future of Jerusalem, so intensely interesting to
every true beliver in our significant times. We follow this
threefold division in our Analysis and Annotations.

268 THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

Analysis and Annotations*

I. THE NIGHT VISIONS

Chapter i-vi:15

CHAPTER I

1. The Introduction. 1-6.

2. The First Night Vision. 7-17.

3. The Second Night Vision. 18-21.

1. The Introduction: Verses 1-6. The first utterance of
Zechariah concerns the past. "The Lord hath been sore
displeased with your fathers." They were a disobedient,
stiff-necked people. The pre-exilic prophets had called
them to repentance, but they did not hearken. Then he
gives the message to turn to the Lord, with the promise
that He will turn to them; they should not be like their
fathers. And their fathers, where were they? They had
passed away like the disobedient ones in the wilderness;
God's judgment and displeasure had overtaken them and
they perished.

2. The First Night Vision : Verses 7-17. After this opening
message with its call to return, delivered probably before the
assembled congregation, the prophet received his great
night-visions. These were not mere dreams, but the things
he describes passed before him in divine vision. He beheld
them in one night. They were not only given in one night,
but just as one followed the other without interval, so are
they closely connected, giving progressively coming events.
There is, of course, to a certain extent in some of these
visions the message of hope for the Jewish remnant of that
day, but the visions concern the future, and can only be
luiderstood in the light of other prophecies concerning the
end of the age and the glorious future of Israel and Jeru-
salem. To ajjply them to the Church produces the greatest

*We call the attention of the reader to the author's book, "Studies in
Zechariah" for a complete exegesis. (Price 75 cents.)

THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 269

possible confusion. We shall see how these visions concern
the Gentiles first and the overthrow of the world-powers,
followed by the blessings and glory promised to Israel,
which all will be given to the nation in the day when Gentile
dominion ceases forever. When the visions end, the morning
comes after that memorable night of revelation, the com-
mand to crown the high-priest is given.

Without quoting the text in full we give the interpretation
of each vision. He beheld an army of riders upon different
colored horses, led by a man riding a red horse, who is the
center of the vision. There is an interpreting heavenly
messenger, to whom the prophet turns to find out who the
riders are. They do not represent the Persians, as some ex-
positors have stated; they are angels. It is the man upon
the red horse who speaks. "These are they whom the Lord
hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth." The riders
upon the horses give their report to the man in the middle.
"Behold, all the earth sitteth still and is at rest."

Who is the rider upon the red horse? He is called the
"Angel of the Lord." There is no question but that the
rider and the Angel of the Lord are the same person. And
the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament is an uncreated
Being; He is the Son of God in His pre-incarnation glory.
There are three very good reasons for this interpretation.
1. The color red identifies him with our Lord. He is the
Lamb of God who shed His blood in redemption; He is the
Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev. v) who will arise in judg-
ment upon the nation in the coming days of vengeance and
trample His enemies under foot (Isa. Ixiii). 2. He is the
Leader as well as the Center of the heavenly hosts; they are
subject unto Him; all things are in His hands. 3. He makes
intercession, which marks Him as the one who is the inter-
cessor before God in behalf of His people. Our Larger ex-
position of Zechariah quotes the Jewish interpretation
(Studies in Zechariah, pp. 11-12).

The report of the angelic hosts was that the earth sitteth
still and is at rest. The nations were at rest, in the state of
prosperity; but His people is in trouble, the land of promise

270 THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

under Gentile rule and dominion. While the cities of the
nations were increased and had plenty, the city of the King
was under the hoof of the Gentiles; His people suffered.
Such is the condition of things throughout the time of the
Gentiles. In our comment, written in 1899 we made
the following remarks :

"Prosperity, universal prosperity, and with it universal
peace, is the cry at the close of another century, and will be
more so as we advance towards the end of this age. Civiliza-
tion, world conquest, commercial extension and a universal
peace, seem to be the leading thoughts among the nations of
our times. Truly it is realized by some that our boasted
civilization, liberty and prosperity is nothing but a smoulder-
ing volcano which may burst open at any moment and make
an end of all boasting, but the majority of the people even
in Christendom are sadly deluding themselves with idle
dreams. And what of God's thoughts and His eternal
purposes .f* What of His oath -bound covenant promises?
They are being misinterpreted, set aside and forgotten.
Thus it will continue till the climax is reached, so clearly
foretold in the second Psalm."

This forecast has come true; the great war has come and
gone and now the age is rapidly approaching its predicted
end.

Then follows in the vision the intercessory cry of the
Angel of the Lord. It concerns in the first place the in-
dignation of the seventy years. But tliat dispersion is the
prophetic type of their greater dispersion. What was true
then concerning the nations and the state of Jerusalem, is
true of the present and future. The nations helped forward
their affliction by hating the Jew. The great sin of the
nations is Anti-Semitism, which is the result of not believing
the Word of God. The hatred of the Gentiles will culminate
in the end of the age in coming against the partially restored
nation, as we shall learn at the close of our prophecy. Then
the assurance is given that the Lord in Kis jealousy will
remember His people and Jeinisalem (verses 16-17). Jeru-
salem will be chosen and Zion comforted.

TEE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 271

3. The Second Night Vision: Verses 18-21. He saw

next four powerful horns, the emblems of the powerful
Gentile nations who have scattered Judah, Israel and Jeru-
salem. The four horns are the same four world-powers
annomiced in Nebuchadnezzar's dream and in Daniel's
vision (Daniel ii and viii). They are symbolized by the
locusts in their four stages (consult Joel i). Four smiths
appear in the vision to fray them and to cast them out. The
vision teaches two facts: first, the horns will be broken and
cast down; and in the second place, God has for every power
which has sinned against His people a corresponding instru-
ment, to overcome and to break into pieces.

CHAPTER n

1. The Man with the Measuring Line. 1-2.

2. The Message of the Third Night Vision. 3-9.

3. The Glorious Kingdom. 10-12.

1. The Man with the Measuring Line: Verses 1-2. The

third night vision is one of the coming glory. The number
three stands in the Word of God for resurrection, life from
the dead. Thus in Hosea, concerning Israel, "After two
days Thou wilt revive us, and on the third day Thou wilt
raise us up" (Hosea vi:2). In this third vision Zechariah sees
the glorious restoration of Israel, which has been the burden
of so many prophecies, and the glory which is connected
with that restoration. In this night vision Zechariah hears
of a restoration and of a glory which has never yet been
fulfilled in the history of God's people. Those teachers of
the Word who see in Zechariah's night visions nothing but
fulfilled prophecy, cannot answer certain questions satis-
factorily, and their only refuge must be a spiritualizing of
this restoration. Another thought before we take up this
third vision. The vision of restoration comes after the en-
emies of Israel have been cast down. That prophecy might
be fulfilled; prophecy about a believing, suffering Jewish
remnant; prophecy concerning Jacob's trouble, etc., a mock
restoration, generally termed a restoration in unbelief, is to
take place. There can be no doubt whatever that we are

272 TEE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

privileged to see the beginning of this restoration of part of
the Jewish nation to the land of the fathers in unbelief. It
is one of the signs of the nearness of that event for which the
Church hopes, prays and waits: "our gathering together
luito Him." The world and the lukewarm Christian does
not see it, but he who loves the Word and lives in the Word,
has eyes to see and a hearing ear, and knows what is soon
coming. The true restoration, hov*'ever, will only come as
it is seen so clearly in these night visions after the enemies
have been overcome, the horns cast down, the image smashed
— in other words, after the Lord has come.

First stands the man with the measuring line. He is to
bear witness to the coming enlargement of Jerusalem.
Similar visions where measuring takes place are found in
Ezekiel xli, where the future temple is measured, and in
Eevelation xi a reed is given to John to measure the temple
of God, which is the temple erected by the Jews in unbelief
during the tribulation period. Here it is the measuring of
the city.

2. The Message of the Third Night Vision: Verses 3-9.
The angel who had talked with Zechariah was met by another
angel. He brings the message to Zechariah, who is addressed
as "this young man." The coming restoration and enlarge-
ment of Jerusalem is announced. The city is to be in-
habited as villages, which denotes the peace and safety
which Jerusalem will enjoy in the day of her true restoration.
It will be the temptation for the enemy, Gog and Magog, to
invade the land (see Ezek. xxxviii and xxxix). The invasion
of Gog and Magog in Revelation xx is after the Millennium;
the one in Ezekiel is in the beginning of the Millennium.
Then Zechariah hears in the message that the Lord will be
Himself a wall of fire unto Jerusalem; He will be the Glory
in the midst of her. Glory and defence are combined, they
always go together (Isa. iv). This was not the case in the
restored Jerusalem after the captivity. It is altogether
future. What a glory it will be when every eye sees Him,
when His visible glory will be once more established in the
land, from which its knowledge spreads over the earth till

THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 273

it covers all, like the waters cover the deep! (Habakkuk ii :14).
Then they are summoned to return from the land of the
North. Millions of Jews are living and suffering in the
great land of the North, Russia. In that day they will
return to the old homeland. They will escape out of the
clutches of Babylon, the final Babylon. He calls the be-
lieving remnant the "apple of His eye." He will guard and
keep them.

3. The Glorious Kingdom: Verses 10-12. The singing
times have come (see Zeph. iii). Zion rejoices for He dwells
in their midst (Isa. xii). Then the nations are joined to
the Lord in that day, not to the Church, for the true Church
is in Glory, but they will be joined to Israel in the kingdom.
The third vision closes Avith an exhortation similar to the
one in Habakkuk ii. All flesh is to be silent before the Lord.
Now is the time when God is silent. The flesh speaks now,
for it is man's day. But our God shall come and not keep
silent (Psa. Ix). Then all the flesh, with its fruits, will have
to be silent before Him in that day.

CHAPTER III

1. The Fourth Night Vision. 1-5.

2. The Message of the Vision. 6-10.

1. The Fourth Night Vision: Verses 1-5. The fourth
vision is like the first and second, closely connected with the
foregoing one. It gives the crowning event of Israel's res-
toration. The prophet recognizes in the figure, which is seen
by him, Joshua the high priest, who is standing before the
angel of the Lord, while at his right hand st&.nds Satan to
oppose him. Joshua was not clothed with his clean, priestly
robes, but he wears filthy garments. Jehovah rebukes Satan
and terms Jerusalem a brand plucked from the fire. After
the accuser is rebuked, the filthy garments of the high priest
are removed, his iniquity is forgiven, and he is clothed with
festal raiment. The prophet is so carried away with the
vision that he asks that a clean mitre is to be put upon his
head. And now, after the high priest is thus clothed, the

274 THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

angel of the Lord charges him with an important message:
If thou wilt walk in My ways and keep My charge, thou
shalt judge my house and also keep My courts. I will give
thee access among those standing here, etc. The servant
— the branch — is promised, and the stone which is laid
before Joshua is to have seven eyes. The iniquity of this
land is to be removed in one day, and the vision closes with
the peaceful scene, every man inviting his neighbor under the
vine and imder the fig tree.

The high-priest Joshua in this vision stands as a type of
the sinful nation and her priestly calling. Like Joshua in
filthy garments, the nation is unclean and defiled. Yet in
spite of his filthy garments Joshua was still the high-priest.
The gifts and calling of God are without repentance; Israel,
in the purposes of God, is still the priest. In the vision
Satan is seen, true to his name, the accuser.

He is the enemy of Israel. He has tried in the past to
hurt and to destroy the nation of destiny. He knows the
purposes of God concerning Israel better than many a learned
doctor of divinity, and therefore, he has opposed that people
and opposes them still. His opposition has been mostly
through nations. How much could be said on this topic!
The end of this age will reveal the enemy of Israel, the ad-
versary, as never before in the history of the world. There
is to be war in heaven; Michael and his angels going forth
to war with the dragon; and the dragon warred, and his
angels, and they prevailed not, neither was their place found
any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast down,
the old Serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the
Deceiver of the whole world, he was cast down to the earth
and his angels were cast down with him (Rev. xii:7-9). His
wrath will be directed against Israel and Jerusalem. It is
the time of which Daniel spoke. "And at that time shall
Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the
children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble
such as never was since there was a nation, even to that
same time (Dan. xii:l)." Once more Satan will try to destroy
the people, but the Lord shall rebuke him. Israel will be

THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 275

again, as so often before, like a brand plucked out of the fire.
So it has been in the past. Way back when Israel was in
Egypt and God was about to send the deliverer, He called
Moses from out of the burning bush — Israel's true type,
burning, but never consumed. Oh, how the fire of perse-
cution and adversity has been raging, but again and again
the hand of God snatched the burning brand out of the fire
at the right moment. The Lord who hath chosen Jerusalem
will rebuke Satan. This has not yet come. The coming
Lord will commission an angel out of heaven, having the key
of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he will lay
hold on the dragon — the old Serpent which is the Devil and
Satan — and bind him for a thousand years, and cast him
into the abyss and shut it and seal it over him (Rev. xx:l, 2).
Then follows the cleansing of Israel and the new charge, all
so clearly given in this vision.

The filthy garments are removed by those that stand before
the angel of the Lord. The iniquity is taken away, and in
place of the filthy garments there is the rich apparel and the
fair mitre upon the head. How blessedly all this is waiting
for its fulfillment in Israel's regeneration! When He ap-
pears after the times of overturning. He whose right it is.
His people Israel will be found by Him in true penitence, ac-
knowledging their offence. It will be a national repentance,
a mourning on account of Him, which Zechariah describes
in detail in the twelfth chapter.

2. The Message of the Vision: Verses 6-10. Israel was
disobedient and did not keep the first charge. It is now
repeated, and gives Israel's future calling after their clean-
sing. It will be threefold. 1. Judging in the house of the
Lord, and from there ruling and judging nations, for Israel
will be the head of the nations. The Church will then not
be on earth, but occupy her glorious place in the New Jeru-
salem above the earth. 2. Israel will keep His courts. That
is, Israel will attend to the Millennial Temple, which will
become the house of prayer for all nations, which all the
former temples were not. 3. Israel will have places to walk
amongst those who stand by, that is, among the nations.

276 TEE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

in priestly ministry. The saved remnant will then be "men
which are a wonder," the miracles of His Grace and Power.
Then the servant, the Branch is announced; a definite Mes-
sianic prediction. The stone engraven, with seven eyes
upon it, must also mean the redeemed nation, the founda-
tion of the kingdom, filled with His Spirit, for we read in
connection with it, "I will remove the iniquity of that land
in one day." A picture of the conditions of peace and pros-
perity in the kingdom concludes the fourth night vision.

CHAPTER IV

1. The Fifth Night Vision. 1-10.

2. The Questions of the Prophet Answered. 11-14.

1. The Fifth Night Vision: Verses 1-10. There was a
rest for the prophet between the fourth and fifth night
vision. He had fallen into a deep sleep. He may have been
overcome by the grand and important visions, and is now
awakened by the angel with the question, "^Vhat seest thou?"
The new vision is a very striking one. A golden candlestick
appears before the seer. An oil receiver is seen on top, from
which the oil flows to the seven lamps of the candlestick
through seven pipes. Two olive trees stand alongside of the
candlestick and hang their fruit-laden branches over the
golden bowl, filling it with oil, which flows through the seven
pipes into the seven lamps. The question of the prophet,
"What are these, my Lord?" is answered by the angel with
this statement, "This is the word of Jehovah to Zerubbabel,
saying, Not by might and not by power but by My Spirit,
saith the Lord of Hosts. Who art thou, oh great mountain,
before Zerubbabel.'^ Be a plain! He shall bring forth the
topstone with shoutings of grace, grace mito it. The hands
of Zerubbabel who have laid the foundation shall also finish
it, and they shall rejoice and see the plummet in the hand
of Zerubbabel — even the seven. The eyes of the Lord shall
run to and fro through the entire earth."

The Church in the New Testament is typmed by a candle-
stick. The oil is the emblem of the Holy Spirit. But this
is not in view in this vision.

TBE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 277

We call attention to the fact that the vision is one which
speaks of perfection, completion, fullness. The perfect and
divine number seven is found three times in the vision, seven
lamps, seven pipes and seven eyes. The seven lamps are
united to one stem, this is union, and above it, is a golden
bowl. The Spirit conquers, and not power or might does
it, but His pov/er. The great mountain becomes a plain.
The topstone is brought forth and crowns the building which
is finished by Zerubbabel. Shoutings, "Grace, grace, unto
it," are heard, and the seven eyes run to- and fro the whole
earth. It is a vision of fullness and accomplishment. The
candlestick shines and sheds its glorious light, its pure gold
glitters and reflects the light of the seven lamps. The bowl
is filled with oil, and the two olive trees give a continual
supply. The high mountain removed, the temple finished,
joy and victory abound. The candlestick in the vision is
exactly like the one in the tabernacle, only the two olive
trees are something new. The candlestick in the tabernacle
represents Christ, the Light of the world, and is likewise a
type of the Jewish theocracy. Theocracy, the government of
this earth by the immediate direction of God, is once to be
established, and when it is, it will be like a bright and glori-
ous candlestick shedding light and dispersing the darkness.
We think the Yalkut on Zechariah (a Hebrew commentary),
is not so very far out of the way when it says, "the golden
candlestick is Israel." It seems to us very clear that the
vision represents the Jewish theocracy restored, Israel in
their glorious inheritance as the light of the world.

2. The Questions of the Prophet Answered: Verses 11-

14. The prophet asks two questions concerning the two
olive trees and the branches which give the oil through the
golden pipe. The two olive trees, filled with the supply of
the Spirit, are in all probability the two witnesses of Revela-
tion xi. Their testimony is given during the second haK of
the last seven years of the times of the Gentiles, Daniel's
seventieth week (see Dan. ix). It is the time of the great
tribulation and these two witnesses stand in close relation

278 • THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

with the estabhshment of the kingdom. See Annotations on
Revelation.

CHAPTER V

1. The Sixth Vision. 1-4.

2. The Seventh Vision. 5-11.

1. The Sixth Vision: Verses 1-4. The three remaining
night visions are of a different character. The first visions
the prophet had were visions of comfort for Jerusalem and
the dispersed nation, the overthrow of Babylon and all their
enemies, divine forgiveness and the theocracy restored.
Now follow the last three visions, and these are visions of
judgment. Judgment precedes Israel's restoration, and is
very prominently connected with it.

The sixth night vision is the one of the flying roll. The
prophet's eyes seem to have been closed after the fifth vision,
for we read, "And I lifted up my eyes again." The flying
roll he sees is twenty cubits long and ten cubits broad. The
interpreting angel tells the prophet that it is the curse that
goeth forth over the face of the whole land; for every one
that stealeth shall be cut off on this side according to it, and
every one that sweareth shall be cut off on that side accord-
ing to it. The Lord of hosts has brought it forth and it is
to enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of
him that sweareth by His Name to a falsehood, and it shall
lodge in the midst of His house and consume it, both its wood
and its stone.

That this vision means judgment is evident at the first
glance. Ezekiel had a similar vision. "And when I looked,
behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book
was therein; And he spread it before me; and it was written
within and without: and there was written therein lamenta-
tions, and mourning, and woe (Ezek. ii:9, 10)." Ezekiel was
to eat that book. This reminds us at once of the books in
Revelation (chapters v and x), which are likewise connected
with God's judgments in the earth. The flying roll is written
on both sides, signifying the two tables of stone, the law of
God. Stealing and swearing falsely are mentioned because

THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 279

the one is found on the one side of the two tables of stone,
and the other on the other side. However, it is no longer
"Thou shalt not," but on the flying roll are written the
curses, the awful curses against the trangressors of God's
law which are now about to be put into execution. The
curse is found in its awful details, as it refers to an apostate
people in Deuteronomy xxvii and xxviii. The roll is of
immense size, and on it are the dreadful curses of an angry
God. The vision must have been one of exceeding great
terror. Imagine a roll, probably illumined at night with
fire, moving over the heavens, and on it the curses of an
eternal God — wherever it moves its awful message is seen;
nothing is hid from its awe-inspiring presence. It reminds
one of the fiery handwriting on the wall in the king's palace.
Surely such an awful judgment is coming by and by, when
our God will keep silence no longer. One of the sublimest
judgment Psalms, the fiftieth, mentions something similar
to this flying roll. "Wlien thou sawest a thief, then thou
consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.
Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth
deceit. Thou sittest and speaketh against thy brother;
thou slanderest thine own mother's son. These things hast
thou done, and I kept silence; thou though test that I was
altogether such a one as thyself : but I will reprove thee, and
set them in order before thine eyes" (Psalm i:18-21). The
flying roll stands undoubtedly in connection with wicked-
ness, theft and false swearing, as it is found in so many forms
in unbelieving Israel, but it finds also a large application in
the judgment of wickedness throughout the earth in the
glorious day of His appearing,

2. The Seventh Vision: Verses 5-11. The Angel com-
mands the prophet to lift up his eyes to behold another
startling vision. What are the leading figures in the vision.''
An ephah — M^hich is a Jewisli measure standing here for
commerce. The eyes of all the land (or earth) are
upon it. Commercialism is very prominent in Revelation in
connection with the full measure of wickedness, the climax
of ungodliness. In Revelation xviii merchants are men-

280 THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

tioned who have grown rich through the abundance of her
deUcacies. Then the merchants are seen weeping, for no
man buys their merchandise any more. And then a long hst
follows, including all the articles of modern commerce. Com-
pare this with the awful description of the last times in James
V. Rich men are commanded to weep and howl, for miseries
are come upon them. They heaped treasure together for
the last days, and it was a heaping together by fraud, dis-
honesty in keeping back the hire of the laborers. They
lived in pleasure (luxuriously) and were wanton. Indeed,
here is that burning question of the day, capital and labor,
and its final outcome, misery and judgment upon commer-
cialism, riches heaped up, and all in wickedness. In Habak-
kuk ii:12 the woe of judgment of that coming glory of the
Lord is pronomiced upon him that buildeth a town with blood
and establisheth a city by iniquity! The people are seen
laboring for the fire and wearying themselves for vanity.
Luxuries, increase, riches, etc., are mentioned in the second
and third chapters of Isaiah, chapters of judgment. Other
passages could be quoted, but these are sufficient for our
purpose. They show us that the climax of wickedness as it
is in the earth when judgment will come, and Israel's time
commences once more, will be connected with commerce,
riches and luxuries. The ephah points to this.

In the second place let us notice that in the midst of the
ephah there is seen a woman. She is called w^ickedness. The
Hebrew word wickedness is translated by the Septuagint
with "avouia". We find that the Holy Spirit uses the
same word in 2 Thess. ii:8, and then shall be revealed the
wicked one (ai^ouia) whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the
Spirit of His mouth. The woman in the ephah personifies
wickedness. She has surrounded herseK w^th the ephah and
sits in the midst of it. Have we not here the great whore
having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and
filthiness of her fornication? LTndoubtedly. This woman is
the tyi>e of evil and wickedness in its highest form. Let us
glance at that wonderful description of that woman in
Revelation. She is the great whore sitting upon many waters.

THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 281

She sits upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blas-
phemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman is
arrayed in purple and scarlet decked with gold, precious
stones and pearls. Upon her forehead is seen her name,
Mystery, BABYLON the Great, the mother of harlots and
abominations in the earth. She is drmik with the blood of
the saints. The woman in the ephah represents the same
great whore, Babylon the great. This becomes at once clear
when we take into consideration that the woman in the ephah
is carried swiftly away and a house is built for her in the land
of Shinar, and it shall be established, and set there upon her
own base. Now the land of Shinar is Babylonia.. But while
in Revelation xvii the mystical Babylon is seen, in the
eighteenth chapter there is another Babylon, the final great
political-commercial world system; it is still future, not very
far away, for we see that the trend of modern events is to-
wards such a combination. The vision of the ephah and the
woman evidently sealed up in it may denote the overthrow
and judgment of the final Babylon.

CHAPTER VI

1. The Eighth Vision. 1-8.

2. The Crowning of Joshua, the High-Priest. 9-15.

1. The Eighth Vision: Verses 1-8. The last vision is the
vision of the four chariots. We notice the similarity with
the first night- vision. The visions opend with the hosts of
heaven upon red, speckled and white horses. It was a vision
of judgment for the Gentiles and a vision of comfort to
Israel. In this last vision the chariots of judgment are seen
sweeping over the earth. It seems to denote judgment in
its final accomplishment. The riders of the first vision may
be termed the beginning of God's dealing with the nations,
but the chariots put the divine judgment decrees into
operation.

" The riders halted in a valley amidst a myrtle grove, but
the chariots rush forth to execute their terrible work from
between two mountains of brass. These mountains mean
undoubtedly Mount Moriah and the Mount of Olives. They

282 THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

rush through the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The brass is
mentioned to denote the firmness and stability of these
mountains, which shall never be moved. We do not think
that in the four chariots there is an allusion to the four
world-powers. The judgment of them is now come. The
stone is falling and smiting the image at its feet and pulver-
izing it, putting it completely out of existence. The chariots
are God's powers, agencies for judgment in the earth, which
will pass swiftly along, shown by the fast running chariots.
In Rev. vi the seven seals are opened, and there go forth the
four terrible riders upon white, red, black and pale horses.
The riders in the Apocalypse are the riders which go through
the earth during the great tribulation, but in the eighth
night vision of Zechariah we see the chariots of God's wrath.
The vision falls in the time when heaven opens and He
appears riding upon a white horse. His name Faithful and
True, coming in righteousness to judge and to make war.
Wonderful vision of Him who is clothed with a vesture dipped
in blood! He is followed by the armies of heaven upon white
horses, all clothed in fine linen white and clean. "And out
of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should
smite the nations, and He shall rule them with a rod of
iron, and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and
wrath of almighty God" (Rev. xix).

The angel interprets to the prophet that the chariots are
the four spirits of the heavens which go forth from standing
before the Lord of the earth. These agencies for wrath were
with God, standing before Him, the Lord of all the earth, but
now at His command they descend to scatter death and
destruction. They go forth in sets, and the north country
and south country both so prominent in the prophetic word
are mentioned. The 'bay horses, however, are not con-
fined to one direction, they go through the entire earth.
At last in the judgment of the land of the north the Spirit is
caused to rest. The overthrow of the enemies of Israel is
complete and the Spirit is quieted. How long may the
wrath last and for how long may the chariots do their deadly
work? Perhaps longer than we think. The millennial

TEE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 283

reign of Christ, as foreshadowed in the bloody rule of David,
followed by the peaceful reign of Solomon, may teach us
lessons in this direction. The night visions have ended.
They may be termed the Apocalypse of Zechariah. Daniel,
Zechariah and Revelation go together in a wonderful har-
mony and explain each other. Alas! that just these three
parts of the Bible should be so little studied and so little
understood.

2. The Crowmog of the High-Priest: Verses 9-15. The
memorable night v/ith its great visions was gone. The first
streaks of the morning heralded the coming dawn. Then the
Word of the Lord came to the young prophet commanding
him to make crowns of silver and gold and crown Joshua,
the High-Priest.

Some consider this to be the ninth vision of the prophet.
It is, however, the Word of the Lord which comes to the
prophet. There can be no doubt but the command was
actually carried out and Cheldai (robust), Tobiah (God's
goodness), and Jedaiah (God knows), gave their silver and
gold, and crowns were made out of it and placed upon the
head of Joshua the high-priest. But the action had a much
deeper meaning. It was a highly typical one. It must have
astonished Joshua and the people to hear such a command,
for the royal crown did not belong to the high-priest but to
the descendant of David. He must have understood that
the whole command had a symbolical bearing. Joshua
hears it from the V^'^ord of the Lord that another person is
only typified by him, "Behold the man whose name is the
Branch." It is this man the Branch who vv'ill be a priest
upon the throne. This, of course, is our Lord Jesus Christ.
The name of the high-priest Joshua is in itself very significant,
for the meaning is, God is salvation, Saviour, Jesus. Pontius
Pilate was fulfilling prophecy when he stood there leading
out Jesus of Nazareth before that tumultuous multitude,
and when he said "Behold the man." If the assembled Jews
had known the Scriptures they would have recognized the
phrase. But how did He then come forth? He wore a
crown of thorns upon His meek and loving brow, and the

^284 THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

people gazed into the blood-stained face of the Lamb of
God now ready to be placed upon the altar and slain. But
once again it will sound forth, "Behold the man," for when
He appears it will be after He has gathered His saints, and
then He will come as the Son of Man in the heavens, and
the sign of the Son of Man will be seen there. He will be
crowned again, too, but not with the crown of suffering and
shame, but with the crowns of glory. Thus He is seen in
Revelation xix:12 as wearing many crowns.

He comes to build the temple of Jehovah, bearing majesty,
sitting and ruling upon His throne. He is now the builder
of the spiritual temple which is composed of living stones
(Eph. ii-.Sl; 1 Peter ii:5). But when He comes again there
will be the building of another temple. It is now no longer
His Father's throne but His own, upon which He is a priest
as well. The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords has now
taken possession of His inheritance. The times of over-
turning are over and He whose right it is has come. There is
a very instructive thought in the fact that the persons of the
exile, as mentioned above, were to bring the silver and the
gold out of which the crowns were to be made. The time
will come when the whole exiled nation, so long scattered and
peeled, though even in dispersion, the richest nation of the
earth, will bring their silver and gold, their glory and their
all and lay it at the feet of the King.

THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 285

II. QUESTIONS CONCERNING CERTAIN FASTS

Chapters vii-viii
CHAPTER VII

1. The Question. 1-3.

2. The Reproof. 4-7.

3. The Lessons of the Past. 8-14.

1. The Question: Verses 1-3. Nearly two years had
passed since Zechariah's great visions, and during that time
the people had been obedient to the vision and built the
house. Soon the ancient worship was to be resumed. A
question arose in the minds of the people concerning certain
Jewish days of fasting. The principal day was the day set
apart in memory of the destruction of Jerusalem by the
Babylonians. It was kept on the ninth day of the fifth
month (the ninth of Ab, still kept by the Jews). The ques-
tion came to the prophet through two men who bear foreign
names — Sherezer (Prince of the Treasury) and Regemelech
(the official of the King). The question was, "Should I
weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done
these many years?" They had wept in Babylon on that
day (see Psalm cxxxvii.)

2. The Reproof: Verses 4-7. The word of the Lord comes
now to the prophet. The message is for all the people and
for the priests. The two fasts are mentioned. The one in
the fifth month as already stated was the one in remembrance
of the destruction of the city. The fast of the seventh
month was kept on the anniversary of the murder of Gedaliah
at Mizpah (Jeremiah xli) . But why did they keep these fast
days? Why do they keep these days indeed still? The
Lord asks, "Is it unto me, unto me?" No, it was not for the
honor and glory of God, but their own selfish interests were
at the bottom of it. Indeed God had never asked them to
fast. These institutions were man-made, and highly dis-
pleasing to Jehovah. And is it not so now, not alone with
the Jews but with Christendom? Oh, the man-made in-
stitutions and outward observances which only dishonor
God and are for the selfish interests of the people! The

286 THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

eating and drinking, the fast being over, was not unto the
Lord, but unto themselves. It was obedience the Lord
required. Had they Hstened to the words spoken by the
prophets they would not have been in captivity, there would
have been no need for a solemn fast. Unbelief was at the
bottom of it all, and so it is still with the nation in dispersion.
3. The Lessons of the Past: Verses 8-14. Here are moral
lessons and instructions. They were to execute true judg-
ment, show mercy and compassion, oppress not the widow
nor the fatherless, the poor or the stranger. These were His
demands in the past, but their fathers did not listen, and as
a result the judgment of the Lord came upon them and tiiey
were scattered with a whirlwind. History has repeated
itself. What happened in the past happened again.

CHAPTER Vm

1. The Restoration Announced. 1-3.

2. The Peace of Jerusalem. 4-5.

3. The Return to the Land. 6-8.

4. The Blessing of the Land and the People. 9-23.

1. The Restoration Announced: Verses 1-3. The answer
is now given to the question, and it is an answer which none
of the petitioners expected. The answer is closely linked
with the third night vision in chapter ii, for here is an en-
larged prophecy concerning the restoration of Jerusalem.
Jehovah was jealous for Jerusalem. The wrath fell upon the
Gentiles and He poured out His fury upon them (which of
course is future). When that has taken place He returns
unto Zion and establishes His dwelling place in the midst of
His people. Then Jerusalem is no longer trodden down by
the Gentiles. Her name is a new name, "the City of Truth."
How different from the other names she bore in her humilia-
tion! She was called an unclean woman (Lam. i:8, 17); a
harlot and a murderer (Isa. 1:21; Sodom and Egypt (Rev. xi).

2. The Peace of Jerusalem: Verses 4-5. The misery of
Jerusalem was great while under judgment. All will be
changed "in that day." The city will have peace and pros-
perity and be largely inhabited. Hence there will be no

THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 287

more need to weep over her past fate and desolation, lor
greater glory has come.

3. The Return to the Land: Verses 6-8. They all return
to the land. In the second chapter the North country was
mentioned (Russia) ; and their return announced. Here the
East and the West are named, the far East, India, China,
Japan; and the West, the European countries and America.

4. The Blessing of the Land and the People: Verses 9-
23. What a contrast with the former days of judgment and
dispersion and misery! For before these days there was no
hire for man, nor any hire for beast. . . . Little fruit was
had from the groimd; there was nothing for man and beast.
. . . Neither was there any peace to him that went out or
came in on account of the affliction. . . . There was no
rest, no peace, but uncertainty and affliction. Those that
went out from the land had no peace, and they that came
into the land found no peace. The curse said, No rest for
the sole of their feet, and how literally it has been fulfilled.
Again the people seek a resting place in the land without
their God and their Saviour, all in the confidence of the
flesh. They will succeed in their restoration plans only to
find themselves at last in greater difficulties and facing worse
afflictions than ever before. Then every one wiU be against
his neighbor (verse 10). Money spent by the millions in
building channels for irrigation, planting of trees and vines,
building railroads, etc. (just w^hat modern Zionism proposes
and has undertaken to do), may succeed in transforming the
land in spots into a fruitful garden, but the time of Jacob's
trouble will sweep that all away. The Lord will be gracious
to the very land in the day of His manifestation. There will
be a time of peace, the vine will give her fruit, the ground her
increase, the heavens their dew.

The curse will then be changed into a blessing and the
remnant will be a holy people. Fast days become feast days;
national calamities of the past are forgotten, and in the place
of weeping there is praise and worship. The Songs of Praise
with which the Book of Psalms closes will undoubtedly then
be sung by the restored nation. This great restoration

288 TEE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

chapter closes with a vision of the conversion of the whole
world (verses 20-23). The nations are seeking the Lord of
Hosts in Jerusalem to pray before Him. Then the Jew will
no longer be a dishonored person among the Gentiles, but
they will be the messengers of the King among the nations;
and they will gladly take hold of the skirt of the Jew to be
taken by him to Jerusalem.

THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 280

III. THE TWO PROPHETIC BURDENS- THE GREAT
PROPHECIES OF THE FUTURE

Chapters ix-xiv.

1. THE FIRST BURDEN

Chapters ix-xi.

CHAPTER IX

1. The Burden of the Land of Hadrach. 1-8.

2. Zion's King of Peace. 9-12.

3. The Near-event of the Invasion by Antiochus Epiphanes.

13-17.

1. The Burden of the Land of Hadrach: Verses 1-8'
The final section of Zechariah is of still greater interest-
The Deliverer, King Messiah, is revealed in this section as
suffering, rejected, pierced, slain. The great finale leads us
up to the great conflict and final siege of Jerusalem. We
do not enter into the inventions of Criticism, which claim
that these great prophecies are less authentic than the first
part of Zechariah.

The land of Hadrach against which the first burden in
chapter ix commences cannot be correctly located. Its close
connection with Damascus and Hamath shows that the land
of Hadrach must have been a province of the Syrian king-
dom then in existence. The Phoenician cities Tyre and
Sidon are next, and then mention is made of foiu* Philistine
cities. Against these, Syria, Phoenicia and the cities of the
Philistines a great calamity and overthrow is prophesied by
Zechariah. They are conquered by the hosts of an enemy,
and the rich treasures of Tyre are heaped together in the
streets — silver as the dust and gold as the mire — the bul-
warks are smitten, and she herself consumed by fire. From
there the conquest goes on rapidly to the Philistinian cities,
and the King of Gaza perishes. The question arises, What
conquest and calamity is this? Is it accomplished or is it
still future? History records one great conqueror who
rapidly overthrew the countries and cities mentioned in this
burden. Alexander the Great and his expedition so success-

290 TEE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

fully carried on is undoubtedly meant bxcre. All students of
the prophetic Scriptures know how prominently he likewise
stands out in the Book of Daniel. The yoimg monarch, after
the battle of Issus, besieged and quickly captured Damascus.
Sidon was easily taken, but Tyre resisted him some seven
months and was burned to the ground. Gaza and the other
cities came next. Thus the burden of the Word of Jehovah
as uttered here by Zechariah was literally fulfilled in the
Syrian conquest of Alexander the Great. However, history
tells us that the armies of the youthful monarch passed by
Jerusalem a number of times without doing harm to the city.
This is remarkable, and in accord with the prophecy of
Zechariah, for we read in the eighth verse, "And I will
encamp against mine house, against the army, against him
that passes through and returns, and no oppressor shall come
over them any more, for now I have seen it with mine eyes."

But this prophetic burden leads us up also to the final
days, for we read here the promise that "no oppressor shall
come over them any more." This brings it in connection
with the final coming deliverance of Israel, and the final
destructive visitation upon their enemies.

2. Zion's King of Peace: Verses 9-17. A great prophecy
follows. The true King of Israel comes here before us in
His humiliation, and coming exaltation.

"Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion,
Shout aloud, daughter of Jerusalem;
Behold thy king cometh to thee.
Just and having salvation;
Meek and riding upon an ass.
Even upon a colt, the she-ass's foal;
And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim,
And the horse from Jerusalem,
And the battle bow shall be cut off.
And He shall speak peace unto the nations.
And His dominion shall be from sea to sea.
And from the river to the ends of the earth.
As for thee also, for the sake of thy covenant blood,
I send forth thy prisoners from the waterless pit.
Return to the stronghold — Prisoners of hope
Even today I declare I v/ill render double unto thee."

THE PROPHET ZECHAPJAH 291

This stands in contrast to the Grecian conqueror, and it
needs no proofs that the coming King whom Zechariah
beholds is the King Messiah. The Jews acknowledge it as
such. One of the greatest Jewish commentators (Rashi) says :
It is impossible to interpret it of any otl^er than King Mes-
siah. An interesting fable is based upon this prophecy, and
well known among orthodox Jews. Rabbi Eliezer says, com-
menting on the words lowly and riding upon an ass, "This
is the ass, the foal of that she-ass which was created in the
twilight. This is the ass vi'hich Abraham our father saddled
for the binding of Isaac his son. This is the ass upon which
Moses our teacher rode when he came to Egypt, as it is
said, And he made them ride upon the ass (Exod. iv:20).
This is the ass upon which the Son of David shall ride."
Other interesting quotations could be given from Jewish
writings, but this is sufficient to show that the Jews believe
it to be a Messianic prophecy. And what blindness that
they do not see Him who is the Messiah; but is not the so-
called "higher criticism" existing today in Christendom
being taught in churches and schools, that there are no
Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament, much greater
blindness? Alas! so it is, and the outcome can be nothing
else in the end than the denial of the divinity of our Lord, or
Unitarianism.

Every reader of the New Testament knows that this
prophecy is quoted in the Gospels. In the Gospel of Matthew
we read (chapter xxi:5): "All this was done that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying. Tell
the daughter of Sion, Behold thy King cometh unto thee,
meek, and sitting upon an ass, upon a colt the foal of an
ass." The context shows a great multitude crying, Hosanna
to the Son of David : Blessed is He that cometh in the name
of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. But soon the cry is
changed unto, This is Jesus the prophet from Nazareth of
Galilee. Notice the Koly Spirit quoting from Zechariah
leaves out the sentence, ''He is just, having salvation." This
is not an error, but it is the divine right of the Spint who
gave the prophecies in olden times to apply them correctly

292 TEE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

in the New Testament. In the Gospel of Mark in the
eleventh chapter there is likewise the description of Christ's
entry into Jerusalem, but Zechariah is not quoted. The
same is true of the account given by Luke, chapter xix, and
here He is mentioned as the King that cometh in the name
of Jehovah, peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. In
the fourth Gospel, chapter xii:15, the account of His coming
to Jerusalem is much shorter than in the other Gospels. It
says there, "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, thy King
cometh, sitting upon an ass's colt."

We see from this that the four Gospels give each an account
of the entry of the Lord into Jerusalem; two of them quote
from Zechariah and the other two do not. The quotations
themselves are different from the prophecy in Zechariah
ix in two respects. The first words. Rejoice gTeatly, is not
at all used. In Matthew it is. Tell the daughter of Zion,
and in John, Fear not, daughter of Zion. The sentence. He
is just and having salvation, is left out in both.

A superficial exposition of the Word claims that Zechariah's
prophecy was fulfilled in the event recorded by the Gospels.
As far as His entry into Jerusalem is concerned, riding upon
the colt the foal of an ass (and note in Matthew^ it is shown
that both the colt and the ass are brought to Him. He could
ride, of course, only upon one, but the she-ass had to go along
in fulfillment of prophecy), and the way He came, meekly,
in this respect the prophecj'' was fulfilled. This entry of
the Son of Man into Jerusalem was His formal presentation
to Jerusalem as its King, but, as stated above, the Messianic
cry of welcome. Blessed is He, soon changed into, Jesus the
prophet from Nazareth in Galilee, and that again in the final
cry of rejection. Crucify Him, crucify Him! There w^as no
salvation for Israel then, and no kingdom for Him, hence
no rejoicing is mentioned in the quotations.

It is His second coming to Jerusalem as the Son of Man in
His glory which will bring the fulfillment of Zechariah ix:9-
11. True, the colt, the she ass's foal, will not be the animal
He rides, but He will come upon a white horse followed by
the armies of heaven. He comes then truly for Jerusalem, ful-

TEE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 293

filling the prophecy, "Just is He having salvation" (marginal
reading, Victory). There will be again the welcome cry of
the cxviii Psalm, "Blessed is He "that cometh in the name
of Jehovah," preceded by the plea, Hosanna, save now."

The tenth and eleventh verses show clearly that the
prophecy is yet to be fulfilled and can be only fulfilled in
the coming of the Son of Man in His glory. One of the
reasons why modern Judaism rejects Jesus of Nazareth, and
does not believe Him to be the promised Redeemer, is in
this prophecy. Rabbi F. De Sola Mendes, of New York,
brings in a little book, "A Hebrew's Reply to the Mission-
aries," the following argument: "We reject Jesus of Nazareth
as our Messiah on account of His deeds. He says of Himself:
'Think not that I am come to send peace on the earth; I
came not to send peace but a sword,' etc. But we find that
our prophets ascribe to the true Messiah quite different
actions. Zechariah says (ixtlO), He shall speak peace to the
nations. Jesus says He came to send the sword on the earth;
whereas, Isaiah says of the true Messianic time, 'They shall
beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into
pruning-hooks; nation shall not life up sword against nation;
neither shall they learn war any more.' "

Of course the Jew is right in expecting the literal fulfill-
ment of this prophecy, and it will be fulfilled when He comes
again and the restoration of all things will follow, as spoken
by the mouth of all his holy prophets.

Wlien He appears again, in like manner as He went into
heaven, that is not for His saints but with His saints, there
will be peace for Ephraim and for Jerusalem, and the king-
dom is then restored to Israel, that is, to the house of Judah
and the house of Israel. The chariot, the horse and the
battlebow will be cut off.

Not alone will He bring peace to the covenant people
but to the nations. He will speak peace. "And He shall
stand, and shall feed His flock in the strength of the Lord, in
the majesty of the name of Jehovah His God, and they shall
abide; for now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth.
And this man shall be our peace" (Micah v:4, 5). There

294 THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

win be abundance of peace (Psa. lxxii:7). His dominion will
be from sea to sea and to the ends of the earth.

The prisoners of hope to be released, by the blood of the
covenant, from the pit wherein there is no water, is the nation
whose captivity is now ended. How strange that people
should take a passage like this and interpret it as meaning
the restitution of the wicked and the ungodly from the pit.
There is nothing taught in the Word like that which some
people term a larger hope. The restitution (restoration) of
all things is not left to the fanciful interpretation of the
human mind, but is clearly defined by the Word itself, as
spoken by the prophets. In the vision of the dry bones in
Ezekiei xxxvii, Israel's complaint is, Our hope is lost. But
when He is manifested, who is indeed the Hope of Israel,
the prisoners (the captives), v/ill be released and cleansed.
"Refrain thy voice from weeping and thine eyes from tears,
. . . there is hope for thy latter end, saith the Lord, and
thy children shall come again to their own border" (Jer.
xxxi:17). The exhortation to return to the stronghold fol-
lows. Israel will then sing, "He brought me up out of an
horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon
a rock, and established my goings" (Psa. xl:2). Double will
be rendered unto them, as promised, "Speak to the heart of
Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accom-
plished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received
of the Lord's hand double for all her sins" (Isa. xl:2). "For
your shame ye shall have double, and for confusion they
shall rejoice in that portion; therefore in their land they shall
possess double; everlasting joy shall be unto them" (Isa.
ki:7).

3. The Near-Eveiit of tlie Invasion by Aiitioclms Epiph-
aues: Verses 12-17. The scene changes once more. One
of Alexander's successors, Antiochus Epiphanes, and the
Maccabean victory is tlie topic of these verses. On this
invader see Daniel viii, where he is predicted as the little
horn and his abominable v/ork there is fully described. He
entered "the pleasant land," the land of Israel A bitter
struggle commenced, for Antiochus tried to exterminate the

TEE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 295

Jews, and their religion as well. Every observance of the
Jewish religion was forbidden, the Sabbath had to be pro-
faned, and unclean food had to be eaten. Idols were set
up in the temple. Instead of the Jewish feasts, the feasts of
idols, with all their shocking abominations and immoralities,
were introduced, and the Jews were forced to join in them.
Thousands suitered martyrdom. But all at once a few people
stood up against the abominations, the Maccabeans, and
in a struggle lasting about twenty-five years, they fought
successfully against the enemies.

This terrible visitation of the land and the wonderful vic-
tory of the Maccabeans is foretold by the prophet in the
closing verses of the ninth chapter. We will quote the
passage :

"I bend for me Judah and fill the bow with Ephraim,
And I will stir up thy sons, Zion, against thy sons, Greece,
And make thee like the sword of a mighty man.
Jehovah shall be seen over them.
And His arrow shall go forth like lightning.
And the Lord Jehovah shall blow the trumpet.
He shall go with whirlwinds of the South.
The Lord of Hosts shall cover them;
They shall devour and tread down slingstones.
And they drink and make a noise as from wine.
And they shall be filled like bowls, as the corners of the altar.
And Jehovah their God saves them in that day, as the

flock of His people;
For jewels of a crown shall they be, glittering over His land.
For how great is His goodness and how great His beauty!
Corn shall make the young men flourish, and new wine

maidens."

But again we have to remark that this prophecy is only
partially fulfilled. The terrible tribulation of the land of
Judah when Antiochus Epiphanes invaded the land is but
a type of the great tribulation, the time of Jacob's trouble.
The remnant of Israel will then be victorious. Thus every-
thing is seen in this chapter in a past fulfillment, but only
partial, and in it a future fulfillment, which will be complete.

We cannot leave this chapter without calling attention to
the blessed statement;

296 THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

"For jewels of a crown they shall be, glittering over His land."

The slain who suffered martyrdom are meant, and all those
who fought for Jehovah's name and honor. May not the
statement in Hebrews xi refer to this time? "Others had
trials of mockings and scom-gings, yea, moreover of bonds and
imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder,
they were tempted, they were slain with the sword; they went
about in sheepskins, in goatskins: being destitute, afflicted,
evil entreated, of whom the world was not worthy, wander-
ing in deserts and in mountains and caves and the holes of
the earth" (Heb. xi:36-39).

And all will find a repetition during the coming tribulation,
But the time for reward has not yet come. The throne of
glory is not yet revealed, and the jewels, the saints made up
in a crown, glittering over the land, are not yet seen. But
the assurance is given, "They shall be Mine, saith the Lord
of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels" (Mai.
iii:17).

The first verse of the next chapter is misplaced; it belongs
to the close of chapter ix. When the time of blessing comes,
the latter rain will fall upon the land and produce the prom-
ised fruitfulness.

CHAPTER X:2-12

1. The Apostasy of Israel in the Last Days. 2-4.

2. The Victory over the Enemies. 5-7.

3. Deliverance and llestoration. 8-12.

1. The Apostasy of Israel in the Last Days: Verses 2-4.

Idolatry was the great sin of both Judah and Israel. They
practised the occult things of heathendom and worshipped
their false gods; they had teraphim used for divination. On
account of this the wrath fell upon the former generations,
and the Lord's anger was kindled against their leaders, the
shepherds, and they were dispersed. We have called atten-
tion before to Matthew xii:43-45, the passage in which the
Lord Jesus aiuiounces that the unbelieving part of the
nation will return in the last days to the unclean spirit of
idolatry, only in a worse form than before. Many of the

THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 297

unbelievers amongst the Jews in our days turn to the
witchery of Christian Science; they adopt also that Satanic
system knoM'n as Spiritism. But the apostates will go beyond
that. They will finally accept the Devil's master production,
the Man of Sin, and worship him (2 Thess. ii; Rev. xiii;
Dan. ix:27). Then the Lord will punish these goats. At
the same time there is a remnant which will stand aside
from these future idolatries; they will fear the Lord and not
enter into a covenant with the Beast (see annotations Daniel
ix:27). The second half of the third verse in this chapter
belongs to this remnant: "The Lord of hosts visits His
flock, the house of Judah, and makes it like His state-horse
in the war." He will use them and finally deliver them.

The fourth verse is of much interest. "From him will be
the cornerstone, from him the nail, from him the battle-bow,
from him every ruler goeth forth at once" (corrected transla-
tion). The nail in the Oriental house is a large pin, often
very beautifully ornamented, and the most costly things
are hanged thereupon. "And I will fasten him as a nail in a
sure place and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's
house. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his
father's house" (Isa. xxii:23, 24). The Shemoth rabbah, a
Jewish interpretation, says on this verse, "this is King David;
as it is said, the stone which the builders rejected is become
the chief cornerstone." Some say it is spoken concerning the
Lord, that He is the cornerstone and the nail. It refers to
Him, no doubt, but what is spoken of Him finds also a ful-
fillment in restored Israel. Thus Israel is yet to be the
cornerstone upon which everything rests in the earth, and
the nail upon which hangs the glory.

2. The Victory over the Enemies: Verses 5-7. The great
final victory is announced in this section. They shall fight
and conquer, for the Lord of hosts is with them as of old.
They will be saved out of the time of Jacob's trouble, "For
I have mercy upon them; and they shall be as though I had
not cast them off; for I am the Lord their God, and I will
hear them." Ephraim will be there, the restored ten tribes.

3. Deliverance and Restoration: Verses 8-12. They will

298 THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

be delivered in that day, redeemed and restored. Let us
notice that the eleventh verse must be applied to the Lord.
He is with them in the sea of afBiction, as He was with them
in Egypt and went before them in the pillar of cloud.

CHAPTER XI

1. The Judgment of the Land; the Temple and the Slaugh-

ter of the Flock. 1-6.

2. The True Shepherd Set Aside and Rejected. 7-14.

3. The Foolish Shepherd. 15-17.

1. The Judgment of the Land; the Temple, and the
Slaughter of the Flock; Verses 1-6. This chapter presents a
dark prophetic picture. We have seen in the preceding
chapters the blessings and mercies in store for the Israel of
the future. The visions and prophecies have revealed their
national and spiritual restoration, the overthrow of their
enemies, the destruction of the world-powers, the establish-
ment of the theocracy and the blessings of the kingdom.
What precedes this coming glory is now more fully unfolded,
and the rejection of the Shepherd of Israel is predicted. The
first six verses concern the judgment as the result of that
rejection. For a complete exposition see our "Studies in
Zechariah," where we also give the interesting Jewish
comments on this passage. They apply it mostly to the
destruction of the Temple.

The correct interpretation is that it includes all the de-
vastation of the land, the burning of the temple, the slaughter
of the fiock, the spoiling of the shepherds, the Jewish leaders
and the complete overthrow of the land and of the people.
How awful the fulfillment of the prophecy has been! The
Lord's voice, full of tears cried, long after Zechariah's mourn-
ful vision, "If thou hadst known, at least in this thy day,
the things which belong to thy peace, but now they are hid
from thine eyes! For the days shall come upon thee that
thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee and compass
thee round, and keep thee in on every side. And shall lay
thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee,
and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another."

TEE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 299

The measure was full. After terrible wars amongst them-
selves, the fire advanced in the direction from Lebanon, in
the form of the Roman army full of vengeance, spreading
ruin and misery wherever they went, till after a long and
dreadful siege Jerusalem fell, the temple was burnt, and over
a million human beings were slain. Not one stone was left
upon another. Up to now this judgment has been the most
appalling, the tribulation then the greatest; but there is
another tribulation coming of which the former destruction
of Jerusalem is but a faint type, and that tribulation which
is even now so close at hand will find a climax in the day of
wrath, the day of vengeance of our God. The next verses
(4-6) speak of the flock of slaughter and the last attempt
divine love made to save the doomed nation.

2. The True Shepherd Rejected: Verses 7-14. The
prophet acts again symbolically in taking two staves, one
called Beauty, the other Bands. Much has been written
on this interesting but difficult passage. The first sentence
speaks of divine love. The true Shepherd came, the Messiah,
and He fed the flock of slaughter, the poor of the flock. He
looked on the multitudes and was moved with compassion,
for they were scattered, like sheep without a shepherd. The
prophet as representing the true Shepherd has two staves.
The one is named Beauty; or, as we read in the margin,
graciousness. The second one is named Bands. The Shep-
herd carries a staff to protect and to guide His flock. God's
Mercy and Favor are clearly indicated in these two staves.
The first one, Beauty, which is cut asunder first, and that
before the wages of the Shepherd, the thirty pieces of silver,
are given, stands no doubt for the gracious offer with which
the King, preaching the kingdom, came among His people,
to His own. He proclaimed that which prophets had spoken
before, God's mercy and love, long promised, now to be
carried out. He Himself had come to redeem His people
and deliver them from their mighty enemies as well as from
the false leaders. But the offer, the kingdom preaching, is
rejected, the staff. Beauty, is cut asunder, the covenant
with the peoples (Amim in Hebrew), His own, is now broken.

300 THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

The kingdom is to be taken away and given to another na-
tion. After the breaking of the staff, Beauty, there comes the
giving of the wages, the thirty pieces of silver. The Shepherd
who broke the staff is treated hke a slave.

The second staff in His hands, Bands, speaks of union,
binding together, bringing into fellowship. It typifies the
priestly side of the good Shepherd who died for the flock.
This staff is broken after the thirty pieces were given for
Him, and cast into the temple. They cried. Away with
Him! we have no King save Ceasar! Crucify Him! His
blood be upon us and upon our children! The cross bears
the superscription, This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of
the Jews, and from the lips of the rejected King and Shepherd
there came the prayer for His people, Father, forgive, them
for they know not what they do. The doom came not at
once upon the nation. Once more the love of the Shepherd
is preached to the miserable sheep, and the remission of sins
offered in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but it ends in
rejection too; no bringing together into One followed. The
foolish shepherd appears next, and after him the good Shep-
herd will appear again with His two staves. Beauty and
Bands, kingdom and mercy, bringing and binding together.
He will then be a Priest upon His throne. This interpretation
is the most satisfactory one, and in harmony with the entire
scope of Zechariah's visions and prophecies.

Who are the three shepherds to be cut off in one month by
the Shepherd.? The three shepherds are not persons, but
they stand for the three classes of rulers which governed
Israel, and were in that sense shepherds. We read of these
shepherds in Jeremiah ii:8, priests, rulers, and prophets.
The Lord likewise mentions them in Matthew xvi:!21, elders,
chief priests and scribes, Allien He came He was indeed
weary with them, and denouuced tlieir hypocrisies and wick-
edness. They in turn haletl and abhorred Him, and con-
spired to put Him to death. The Lord Himself cut them off.
Re pronounced Eis \>oc's and judgments upon them, but the
judgment was not at once carried out. When Jerusalem
was taken their rule came to an end and they were cut off.

THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 301

But there are mentioned the wretched of the flock that
gave heed unto the Shepherd, and they knew that it was the
word of Jehovah. These wretched ones are the faithful ones
who followed the Shepherd, the small remnant (compare
with chapter xiii:7). The others who rejected the King and
the Shepherd were indeed not fed, but were dying and cut
off.

The wages of the good Shepherd, thirty pieces of silver,
and these thrown into the house of Jehovah to the potter is
to be considered next. Thirty pieces of silver was the
price of a slave who had been killed. If the ox gore a man-
servant or a maidservant, the owner shall give unto their
master thirty shekels of silver (Exodus xxi:32). Oh, what
unfathomable love! The Lord from heaven became like a
slave. The love He looked for He found not. It was re-
fused to Him, and instead He was insulted, mocked and
treated like a miserable slave. There was one of the twelve
who was called Judas Iscariot. He went to the chief priests
and said. What are you willing to give me, and I will deliver
Him unto you.'' And they weighed unto him thirty pieces
of silver (Matt. xxvi:14). The money at the command
of Jehovah is thrown away by the prophet with indignation
into the house of Jehovah, to the potter. Perhaps the prophet
never knew the real significance of his act, but we know it
from the New Testament. "Then Judas which betrayed Him,
when he saw that He was condemned, repented himself and
brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests
and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent
blood. But they said. What is this to us? See thou to it.
And he cast down the pieces of silver into the sanctuary,
and departed and hanged himself. And the chief priests
took the pieces of silver and said. It is not lawful to put
them into the treasury since it is the price of blood. And
they took counsel and bought with them the potters' field
to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called the
field of blood imto this day. Then was fulfilled that which
was spoken by Jeremiah, the prophet, saying. And they took
the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him that was priced,

302- THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

whom certain of the children of Israel did price, and they
gave them for the potters' field, as the Lord appointed me"
(Matt, xxvii:3-9). How striking the fulfillment. However,
here is a difficulty. In Matthew it is stated that Jeremiah
spoke the prophecy, and Zechariah's name is not mentioned
at all. How can this be explained?

The prophecy certainly as it was fulfilled was not given by
Jeremiah at all, but through Zechariah. There can be no doubt
that his name should appear here instead of Jeremiah, but
that Jeremiah's name is quoted must have a meaning.
Let us notice that it does not say in Matthew xxvii that it
was written by Jeremiah, but it is stated that it was spoken
by Jeremiah. Is there anything in Jeremiah which can be
linked with this prophecy? We have indeed in Jeremiah a
similar action of the prophet, corresponding to Zechariah
xi:13, and which is seen fulfilled in the Gospel. Read Jere-
miah xviii and xix. The word "Tophet" used there means
an unclean place, a burial ground. Jeremiah's name appears
in Matthew's Gospel, to call attention to the fact that
Jeremiah also spoke of the same event, the rejection of the
true Shepherd.

3. The Foolish Shepherd: Verses 15-17. The foohsh
shepherd is the false Messiah, the man of sin, the son of
perdition. The prophet impersonates him likewise. He no
longer holds the staves of Beauty and Bands, but has the
instrument of the foolish shepherd to wound and to hurt.
This false Christ is the opposite from the true Christ. The
true Shepherd came to seek, to save, to feed, to heal and to
gather; the false shepherd does the opposite.

The true One rejected, the nation becomes the prey of the
foolish shepherds. Poor, blinded Israel! How many wicked
shepherds they have had, and how often the prey of wicked
leaders. False Messiahs appeared among them again and
again to find strong and numerous following. Still the foolish
shepherd, the last one, the very embodiment of Satan him-
self, the accuser, has not yet come. Forerunners there have
been many. Herod was one of the, but not that man of sin,
the son of perdition who will appear and be worshipped as

THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 803

a God, right before the King of kings and the true Shepherd
of His flock appears to slay that wicked one with the breath
of His mouth and by the brightness of His coming (2 Thess.
ii). The Lord said, I am come in My Father's name, and
ye receive Me not; if another shall come in his own name,
him ye will receive (John v:43). That one who comes in
his own name has not yet come, and when at last he is here,
it will be for Israel the time of greatest trouble and tribulation
for all them that inhabit the earth. During the war inter-
pretation of prophecy went to seed with some who saw in
the deluded German Kaiser a fulfillment of this passage,
because he had a withered arm. Such foolish inventions are
deplorable, for they bring the study of prophecy into dis-
repute. The third section of our chapter finds its complete
fulfillment in the Antichrist, the false Messiah, the beast,
the little horn, the leader of the enemy, the false prince of
Israel; thus the foolish shepherd is called throughout the
prophetic word. The dreadful punishment will be executed
upon the foolish shepherd in the day of the Lord's coming
with His saints for the salvation of his people Israel.

The eleventh chapter in Zechariah is the darkest in Israel's
history. The night began with their apostasy and rejection
of the Lord of Glory, their ov/n brother, their loving Shep-
herd, the Lord Jesus Christ. It ends in darkness greater
still under the regime of the foolish shepherd. But the
morning cometh after that dark night, and Israel's sun will
never set again.

304 TEE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

THE SECOND BURDEN OF ZECHARIAH

Chapters xii-xiv

CHAPTER XII

1. Jerusalem's Conflict and Victory. 1-9.

2. The Vision of the Pierced One and its Results. 10-14.

1. Jerusalem's Conflict and Victory: Verses 1-9. The

second burden begins with this chapter. It is wholly un-
fulfilled with the exception of the prophecy at the end of
chapter xiii concerning the Shepherd who was smitten. The
great future events recorded in these closing chapters of
Zechariah are the following: The victory of Jerusalem, the
overthrow of the hostile nations from the west (the nations
which constitute the revived Roman Empire), the out-
pouring of the Spirit upon the remnant, the appearing and
the vision of the Pierced One, the national repentance, the
cleansing of the people, the invasion from the north, the
appearing of Christ standing upon the Mount of Olives, the
establishment of the kingdom and the glory of Jerusalem.
Historically no such gathering of all nations against Jeru-
salem can be located. It is all prophetic, and so intensely
interesting in the days we write, for these things are "about
to come to pass."

Behold, I make Jerusalem a cup of reeling

To all the nations round about:

Upon Judah also shall it be,

In the siege against Jerusalem.

And it shall come in that day, I make Jerusalem

A burdensome stone for all the peoples;

All that are burdened with it shall be wounded;

All the nations of the earth shall gather against it.

This does not take place till the end of the age is reached,
the end which begins after the true Church is taken to glory.
Then the nations satanically blinded will form the con-
federacy which in prophecy is the reconstruction of the
Roman Empire, seen in the second chapter of Daniel under
the symbol of the two feet and ten toes, and in Daniel vii
under the symbol of the ten horns with the little horn. In

THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 305

Revelation xiii it is the Beast with the ten horns. The Jews
will have to return first, at least a goodly number of them,
and repossess the city.

In 1899 the author wrote as follows: "An exodus of Jews
will take place, the land will become theirs, and the well
laid plans and schemes of the present time will be carried
out. Political combinations will be their chief hopes for
success." This anticipated return is now a historic fact as
one of the chief results of the great war. When finally the
Jews think that they have reached the goal of their fleshly,
unbelieving hopes, their greatest trouble begins. There is
yet to appear the Beast who makes a covenant vrith them.
But according to Daniel's great prophecy (Dan. ix) the
covenant will be broken in the middle of the seventieth week.
Then the Beast heads the armies of the nations to come up
against the land and against Jerusalem (see Rev. xix:19).
They will lay siege to the city, but the Lord announces that
these nations shall be cut to pieces. It is the time when the
stone strikes the feet of the prophetic image in the second
chapter of Daniel, the great battle of Armageddon. Verses
4-9 describe that day. Jehovah will smite these nations
and ail these hostile forces will be overthrown.

Here also is given the order of how the Lord will save the
remnant of Plis people. Those who live in tents outside the
city will be saved first; Jerusalem comes next. The pur-
pose is that the house of David and the inhabitants of Jeru-
salem may not exalt themselves over the rest of Judah. The
house of David in this vision is mentioned five times. We
have the glory of the house of David in verse seven, the
strength of David and the supremacy of it in verse eight.
The spirit of grace and supplication is given to the house of
David, and the family of the house of David will mourn.
Jews have a tradition which states that the last descendant
of the house of David died in Spain centuries ago. There
are no genealogies at present to prove that the kingly house
of David is extinct or not, but prophecies like the one we
have in consideration, and many others which speak of the
prominence of David and the house of David in the day

'm THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

wlien Jehovah will be manifested, make it very clear that
among the wandering sons of Israel there are yet lineal
descendants of the house of David. If they do not know it
themselves, Jehovah knows it, and they will know it through
Him, The feeble ones, literally the stumblers, among His
people in that day of manifestation will be like David. What
a hero David was! A man of war and strength conquering
always and never conquered. And now the stumbler in
Israel, the weakest one, will have strength and courage like
David. And David shall be as God, as the angel of Jehovah
before them.

2. The Vision of the Pierced One and its Results: Verses
10-14. This is another great Messianic prophecy men-
tioned in the New Testament. In John xix:37 it is written,
after the blessed side of our Lord had been pierced, "And
again another Scripture saith. They shall look on Him whom
they pierced." It is significant that the Holy Spirit speak-
ing in the preceding verse, "that the Scripture be fulfilled,"
avoids this well known phrase in the verse we quoted and
does not say that the looking on Him has been fulfilled. It
was not then fulfilled, nor is it fulfilled during the age of
Gospel preaching, but its fulfillment comes in the day which
is prophetically described in the verses before us, Matthew
xxiv:30 and Revelation i:7 refer also to this portion of our
chapter.

We do not follow the rationalistic reasonings of the school
of criticism on this passage, nor do we mention the many
question marks which these modern infidels have put over
against this great prophecy. One of the mildest critics.
Canon Driver, says: "The passage is, however, one of those
which our ignorance of the circumstances of the time makes
it impossible to interpret as a whole satisfactorily or com-
pletely. As the text stands the speaker must be, of course,
Yahweh, and it is, no doubt, true that the Jews had pierced
Him metaphorically by their rebellion and ingratitude
throughout their history. . . . 'They pierced Him literally
and as the crowning act of their contumacy, in the Person
of His Son on the Cross' (T, T. Perowne; quoted by Driver),

TEE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 307

but these considerations do not explain the passage here."
The New Testament quotations as given above are to any
believer sufficient evidence that the Lord Jesus Christ is
meant, and therefore explain the passage fully.

What a day it will be when the Spirit of grace and sup-
plication comes upon the remnant of His people, Vvhen He
appears in the clouds of heaven, when they shall see Him and
know Him by the pierced side. The great vision of Saul
on the road to Damascus will then be repeated; the young
Pharisee saw Him as one "born out of due season." He
was in his experience the earnest that the remnant of the
nation to which Paul belonged would some day pass through
the same experience (see Studies in Zechariah, pp. 120-125).
A great mourning follows. It will be like the mourning in
Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddon (see 2 Chron.
xxxv:22-27 and 2 Kings xxiii:29). What a day of repentance
it will be when this takes place.

CHAPTER XIII

1. The Cleansing. 1.

2. The Blessed Results of the Cleansing. 2-6.

3. The Smitten Shepherd. 7.

4. Salvation and Condemnation. 8-9.

1. The Cleansing: Verse 1. This verse is misplaced; it
belongs to the preceding chapter. It is a prophecy of the
cleansing of the repenting portion of God's earthly people.
The fountain of cleansing, so beautifully expressed by
Cowper:

There is a fountain filled with blood.
Drawn from Immanuel's veins.
And sinners plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains —

was in existence throughout all the centuries of Israel's long
dispersion. But the nation in blindness did not believe.
Now all is changed. Their guilt is pardoned; all unright-
eousness and iniquity is taken away. The Redeemer has
come and turned away ungodliness from Jacob (Rom. xi:
26, 27). The prophetic Word is filled with promises con-

308 THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

cerning this future cleansing of the remnant of the nation
(Psa. ciii:l-4; Tsa. xxxiii:24; Ezek. xxxix:29; Isa. Hx:20, 21;
Isa. lxv:19).

2. The Blessed Results of the Cleansing : Verses 2-6. The
cleansing is followed by the cutting off of the names of the
idols, so that they will no longer be remembered. The false
prophets and the unclean spirits, which had control during
the great tribulation will be cast out and forever pass away.
We have seen before in the 10th chapter that Israel will
return to idolatry in the last days. The unclean spirit of
idolatry which was cast out v/ill at last return with seven
others and will find the house empty, swept and garnished.
And the evil spirit, with the seven others more evil than him-
self, will enter in and dwell there, so that the last state of
Israel becometh worse than the first. This will happen to
this evil generation. This section of the 13th chapter makes
it very clear that when the foimtain is opened against sin
and uncleanness, that idols will have been in the land, and
false prophets prophesy there immediately before the mani-
festation of the Lord from heaven; for how could the names
of the idols be cut off from the land if there v*ere none there?
Palestine may well be put down now as the great centre of
false worship. Greek and Latin crosses are seen on all sides
in Jerusalem and other places, while saints, holy houses and
places are worshipped and adored.

On the spot where the Lord's house stood, there stands
to-day the mosque of the false prophet. All is idolatry.
Of course when the Ivord returns these false temples will be
destroyed, and the Greek and Latin idolatries, as well as
Islam, will forever pass out of existence. There will be a
purging of the land from these abominations. This may be
included in the prophecy here. Still, it is the people of
Israel who are especially concerned in the prophecy before
us. The land has often been the scene of idol worship, and
the people engaged in that which Jehovah despises. It will
be so again, only in a much worse form, when false prophets
who are inspired by the unclean spirit and demons them-
selves will be their guides.

THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 300

We must look to Revelation for a key. It is well known to
all students of the prophetic word that all which comes after
the third chapter in the last book of the Bible is future still.
We are yet in the things which are present. When the Lord
has taken the Church to Himself then the great visions,
tribulations, wrath and judgment will be fulfilled. Aside
from the scenes in heaven we learn from Revelation the
events in the earth during the great tribulation which ends
with the wrath from heaven.

Now in the 9th chapter and the 20th verse of Revelation
we read, And the rest of mankind which were not killed with
these plagues repented not of the works of their hands that
they should not worship demons and the idols of gold, and
of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of vrood, which can
neither see nor hear nor walk.

Who is the person mentioned in verse six.'' In "Studies
in Zechariah" we speak of this man as representing the
counterfeit Christ, imitating the true Christ. But after
more careful consideration we have come to the conclusion
that this view is untenable. It is Christ Himself. He is here
contrasted with the false prophets. It is the Pierced One.
After they look upon Him they will inquire about those
wounds in His hands and He will answer them, revealing
the story of His rejection. This leads to the prophecy in
the next verse.

3. The Smitten Shepherd: Verse 7. This certainly is
Christ, whose rejection, more than His rejection by His own,
is here revealed. It is the same as in Isaiah liii, the suffering
One, who is a man, and called My Fellow, the fellow of Jeho-
vah of Hosts, Jehovah Himself, who speaks here, and what
does He speak .^ The sword is to work against His Shepherd
and against His own Fellow. The blessed mystery of the
atonement is thus brought out. Indeed it is the heart of the
Gospel here. For God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should
not perish but have life eternal. The Lord, laid on Him the
iniquity of us all. It speaks of Him, the forsaken One, the
Son of God, forsaken in the hour of His agony, the sword

310 THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

upon Him and against Him. In tlie New Testament w^
find the passage quoted in the Gospel of Matthew, 26th
chapter and 13th verse: Then saith Jesus unto them, all ye
shall be offended because of Me this night; for it is written,
I will smite the Shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be
scattered abroad.

4. Salvation and Condemnation: Verses 8-9. There is a
very misleading idea among many students of prophecy as
if the statement of Romans xi:25, "all Israel shall be saved,"
meant that all the Jews will receive the blessing and the
glory on that coming day of salvation. Some of the evil
systems, like the Russell cult (International Bible Student
Association), go so far as to teach that there will be a resur-
rection of all the ungodly Jews of past generations for a
second chance. This passage silences these imscriptural
theories. The promise of restoration and glory belongs to
the godly, the believing and repenting remnant. The mass
of Jews, who call themselves "Reform Jews," who in reality
are infidels, because they deny the Word of God and have
completely discarded the faith in a coming Messiah, will be
cut off. The third part (the remnant) only will be saved.

CHAPTER XIV

1. The Last Conflict and the Manifestation of the Lord. 1-5.

2. The Complete Salvation. 6-11.

3. The Punishment of the Enemies. 12-15.

4. The Conversion of the World. 16-19.

5. The Holiness of Jerusalem. 20-21.

1. The Last Conflict and the Manifestation of the Lord:
Verses 1-5. Post-millennialism has tried to find some ex-
planation of this chapter, but has failed. The common view
that the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in the year
70 A. D. is the burden of this prophecy is ridiculous. We
read that "all nations will be gathered against Jerusalem."
Is this true of the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus.?
It was only one nation. Did the Lord then go forth and
fight against the Romans? No! He used the Romans in
judgment. Did His feet stand at that time upon the Mount

THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 311

of Olives? Did He come and all the Saints with Him?
Were the results of the year 70 the results predicted in the
rest of this chapter? Any intelligent Christian must see how
foolish it is to interpret this passage as having seen its
fulfillment in the destruction of Jerusalem.

Nor is it true that previous sieges have fulfilled this
chapter. Ptolemy Soter took Jerusalem about 315 B. C;
Antiochus the Great took the city in 203 B. C; the Egyptian
Scopus in 199 B. C; Antiochus Epiphanes in 170 B. C.
There were other sieges besides. But none of these sieges
is predicted here. It is future.

What siege then is it? Some premillennial expositors
have a very convenient way of calling everything "the
battle of Armageddon" and claim that the twelfth and the
fourteenth chapters predict one and the same event. But
this is erroneous. It is not the Beast, the head of the ten
kingdoms, the Roman revived Empire. The details of
prophecy concerning the last events can only be understood
by distinguishing between the leaders of opposition. There
is the Beast, the political head of the Western nations, the
little horn of Daniel vii. He is in league with the second
Beast, coming out of the earth, with two horns like a lamb
(Rev. xiii). This is the false Christ, the man of sin, who is
also called in Revelation the false prophet. He has his seat
in Jerusalem, where he poses as Israel's Messiah-King and
is worshipped as such. Then there is another, the King of
the North, typified by the Assyrian, the great invader
whom Ezekiel also describes. This King of the North is the
sworn enemy of the one who is in Jerusalem, that is the
false Messiah; they hate each other. The King of the
North heads the confederacy of nations from the East,
Russia, Persia, Gomer and different Asiatic nations. Then
Jerusalem is finally attacked by these nations. It is this
final attack which is described in this chapter (see Joel ii).
But then the Lord goes forth, and fights against those na-
tions, as when He fought hi the day of battle (Exodus xiv;
2 Chronicles xx:15-17). He manifests His kingly power and
glory in the defense of His City and His people. His feet

312 THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

stand hi that day upon the Mount of Olives, the place so
well known in His earthly life, the place from which He
departed to go back to the Father. A great physical up-
heaval takes place, for the mountain splits in the center,
toward the east and west, forming a great valley between.
The earthquake mentioned is the same to which Amos
refers (Amos i:l). All this has never been; it is future, and
the details of it will probably only be understood at the time
of its fulfillment. The valley will be the avenue of escape,
and the divided Olivet mountain will be ever after a witness
to the literal fulfillment of God's Word.

"And Jehovah my God shall come, and all the saints with
Thee." Different manuscripts and versions have instead
of "with Thee"— "with Him." But the difficulty is cleared
up when we consider that it is the Seer who addresses Jehovah,
whose feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives. Zechariah
bursts out in speaking to Him, "And Jehovah my God shall
come, and all the saints with Thee." What a glorious mani-
festation it will be when He is present and all His holy
angels with Him!

2. The Complete Salvation: Verses 6-11. Verses six and
seven have been rendered in different ways, and have been
differently interpreted.

"And it shall come to pass in that day
That the light shall not be with brightness and with gloom,
And the day shall be One.
It shall be known unto Jehovah.
Not day and not night.
And at evening time there shall be light."

We believe that the passage means the physical pheno-
mena in nature which are always connected with the day of
the Lord (see Amos v:18; viii:9; Joel ii:31; Matt. xxiv:30,
and other passages). Changes will then occur which will
mean that the present order of day and night are superseded
by another order, so that when the evening time comes it
will be light. That day will just be one day of light and
glory. The glory light will probably be shining throughout

TEE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 313

the thousand years, and cover the earth as the waters cover
the deep.

From verse eight we learn that Hving w^aters shall go out
from Jerusalem (Ezek. xivii). This must be interpreted as
a literal fact, and likewise as a symbol of the gTeat spiritual
blessings. "From the holy city go forth westward and east-
ward the waters which are destined to heal the long miseries
of a world groaning tmder Satan's thralldom, themselves the
effect and symbol of the rich blessing which Jehovah then
diffuses far and wide, and this above all the changes ordinary
in nature; in summer and in winter it shall be. Drought and
frost will not affect them; neither will the obstruction of the
hilly ground toward the west; the waters shall flow as
steadily tovrard the great sea on the west as to the Dead Sea
on the east." The Lord Jesus Christ, Jehovah, then shall
be King over all the earth; and His Name shall be one. His
throne is established over the earth and He rules the nations
in righteousness. In that day of His glorious manifestation
His Name will be revealed as the One who on earth declared
"I and the Father are One"; He will be known as the One
Lord and God, and worshipped as such. All idolatry is at
an end and the abominations connected with it are abolished.
Confusion is forever ended (Zeph. iii:9).

Other physical changes in the land are indicated in verse
ten, and from verse eleven we learn that there shall be no
more curse and that Jerusalem shall dwell safely.

3. The Pimishment of the Enemies: Verses 12-15. This
is the description of the dreadful punishment which will
befall the enemies in that day. It is to be read in connec-
tion with the third verse, the Lord fighting against those
nations, and the punishment will be upon them when He
appears. Thus it is seen in Revelation xix. He appears,
and after His appearing there is the scene of punishment
of the enemies. "And I saw an angel standing in the sun;
and he cried with a loud voice to all the birds that fly in
midheaven, Come and be gathered together imto the great
supper of God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the
flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh

314 THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

of horses and them that sit thereon, and the flesh of all men,
both free and bond and small and great (Rev. xix:17, 18).

"And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of
the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm
shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they
shall be an abhorring unto all flesh" (Isa. lxvi:24).

4. The Conversion of the World: Verses 16-19. It is
clear from this passage that some nations, or representatives
of nations, will be left of those who came against Jerusalem.
They, with all the other nations of the world, will then
know the Lord and worship Him. The temple will then
stand in Jerusalem as the house of glory and a house of
prayer for all nations. There v/ill be a perfect worship,
grand and glorious, and it will not be confined to Israel, but
the nations will join in it. We may learn perhaps from this
verse that the Lord will leave every year once His place on
His throne over the earth and come down to Jerusalem
and show Himself in His glory before the worshipping
multitudes in the earth, as He is seen in the New Jerusalem
above. The occasion is the feast of Tabernacles. It is the
millennial feast. It is a feast kept in remembrance of Israel's
journey through the v/ilderness for forty years and all their
subsequent wanderings. It stands also for the ingathering
of the full harvest. It is a feast of joy praise, and thanksgiving.
The Jews keep it to the present day, though few know the
full meaning of it. Every year when it comes again they
read this 14th chapter of Zechariah. It is strange indeed.
What a glorious feast that will be, kept there in Jerusalem,
when the fullness at last has come! The fullness of the
Gentiles has been gathered in, and is in the New Jerusalem;
the fullness of Israel has come in the earth, and their receiving
has been life from the dead, and Gentiles know the glory of
the Lord. Some find a difficulty here in the fact that it is
stated that the nations, the residue of men, are to come up
to Jerusalem, and the difficulty is that it will be impossible
for all of them to do that. It is not at all necessary that
every individual must go up to Jerusalem once in a year.
Perhaps every nation will send representatives to the feast

THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH 315

of Tabernacles^ and they come in the name of the different
nations and bring their presents. This seems to be indicated
in the visit of the wise men from the East, who came to
Bethlehem to worship the new-born King (Matthew ii).
They brought gold, frankincense and myrrh. In Isaiah
lx:6 we read of the coming of the Gentiles to Jerusalem
when the Lord has come again. They shall come from Sheba;
they shall bring gold and frankincense (the myrrh is left out
here, for it speaks of suffering), and shall proclaim the
praises of the Lord. As the wise men who came to Bethlehem
were representatives of nations, so during the Millennium
the nations will send delegations to the feast of Tabernacles.
What a scene that must be! How crowded Jerusalem will be
by those from Greenland and from the interior of Africa,
from India and the islands of the sea, as well as from the
nations which composed the Roman empire. The ends of the
earth have seen the salvation of God, and now their praise
is heard in the city and mingling with the psalms sung by
liis own redeemed people.

On the other hand verses 17-19 acquaint us with the fact
that even during the coming age of the kingdom-glory there
will be disobedience among the nations, which will be fully
demonstrated at the close of the millennium, when a final
revolt takes place.

5. The HoIlKess of Jerasa'iem: Verses 20-21. The m.ost
holy person in Israel, the high-priest, carried the inscription,
"Holiness to Jehovah" around Lis mitre, but nov,- even the
little bells of the horses bear that inscription. In that temple
which stands during the Millennium, sacrifices will be brought,
but there will be no difference in the vessels which are used
in Jerusalem, the meanest and smallest will be holy. In one
word, all will be holy, all will be consecrated to Jehovah.
What a perfect service that v/ill be of the people which are
then, in truth, a holy people. Application can be made of
this to believers now. Surely everything the saint has, and
his whole life, must be thus consecrated to Jehovah, to the
Lord. No Canaanite will be there, nothing unclean. The
Vulgate translates the word Canaanite with merchant, It

81G THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH

stands, however, for everything that is unclean and an
abomination. The city will be completely purged from it.

And of the new Jerusalem it is written, "There shall in no
wise enter into it any thing unclean, or he that maketh an
abomination and a lie, but only they that are written in the
Lamb's book of life. . . . Without are the dogs, and the
sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the
idolaters, and every one that loveth and maketh a lie" (Rev.
xxi:27 andxxii:15).

MALACHI

The Prophet Malachi

We know nothing of the person of this prophet. His name only is
given in the record. Ci-itics have therefore doubted whether Malachi
is really the personal name of the prophet, and many believe that it
is merely an ideal name, given to the unknown person, on account of
his message. Malachi means "My Messenger" or "the Messenger of
Jehovah." The Targum Jonathan, an Aramaic paraphrase, adds after
the name of Malachi, "Cujus nomen appelatur Ezra scriha," whose name
is called Ezra the Scribe, thus claiming that the great and good Ezra
is Malachi. But why should Ezra hide behind an assumed name?
This is unworthy of the man, and more so of the Holy Spirit. Many
of the leading expositors have accepted the theory that Malachi is the
official name of the prophet, whoever he may have been. One of the
reasons for this theory is that "the first verse does not contain any
further personal description, and that nothing is said about his father
or place of birth." But Obadiah and Habakkuk show the same omis-
sions. Nor is it true that nothing was known historically of a person
by name of Malachi. The Talmud has a statement which makes
Malachi a member of the great synagogue, to which also the two post-
exilic prophets Haggai and Zecbariah belonged. Other traditions claim
that he was of the tribe of Zebulon, born in Supha. There is no reason
to doubt that Malachi is the real name of the prophet.

THE DATE OF HIS PROPHECY

This also has caused a great deal of dispute. That he prophesied
after the captivity has never been doubted. Furthermore, the read-
ing of his utterances makes it clear that he prophesied after Haggai
and Zecbariah. We learn that the temple had been completely fin-
ished, and the temple worship with priests had been restored for a
number of years. After Ezra and Nehemiah's beneficent influence
had passed the people went into a decline, and the conditions which
the prophet rebukes were the results of their backsliding. The abuses
which were corrected by Ezra and Nehemiah had taken hold upon the
people again. The exact time can hardly be fixed. It seems by com-
paring Malachi i:8 with Nehemiah v:15 and 18 that Nehemiah was
no longer governor when Malachi exercised his ofiice.

THE MESSAGE OF MALACHI

As the last prophetic voice of the Old Testament, Malachi, in unison
with all other prophets, announces the coming of the Messiah and

320 THE PROPHET MALACHI

point? once more to Him. The next prophetic voice, after the four
hundred silent years, is the voice in the wilderness, the herald of the
King, of whom Malachi predicted that he should come. But the mes-
sage of Malachi is overwhelmingly condemnatory. "The great moral
principle unfolded in this book is the insensibility of the people to that
which Jehovah was for them, and to their own iniquity with respect
to Jehovah — their v/ant of reverence for God, their despisal of Jehovah.
Alas! this insensibility had reached such a point that, when the very
actions which proved their contempt were laid before their consciences,
they saw no harm in them. Nevertheless, this did not alter the pur-
poses and counsels of God, although it brought judgment upon those
who were guilty of it" (see chapter i:2, 6, ii:14, iii:7, 13 — Synopsis).

It is unquestionably true that the spirit manifested by the people
in Malachi's day assumed later the concrete forms expressed by the
two leading sects of Judaism, when our Lord was on earth, the Phari-
sees and the Sadducees. "The outward or grosser kind of idolatry
had been rendered thoroughly distasteful to the people by the suffer-
ings of the exile; and its place was taken by the more refined idolatry
of dead-work righteousness, and trust in the outward fulfillment of
the letter of the divine commands without any deeper confession of
sins, or humiliation under the Word and the will of God." It has been
well stated that "Malachi is like a late evening, which brings a long
day to a close; but he is also the morning dawn, which bears a glorious
day in its womb." The shadows are dark, but there is the rising of the
Sun of Righteousness, still to take place, when all shadows flee away.

But beside the apostate masses of the people, steeped in a dead
formalism, there is seen in the book of Malachi the faithful remnant.
It is interesting to follow this remnant, we have so often mentioned
in our annotations, through the entire Jewish history, past, present
and future. There was always a godly remnant. We see that rem-
nant in the wilderness wandering of Israel; there was a remnant dur-
ing the period of the Judges, and in every other period, like the sad
days of Ahab's wicked rule, when despondent Elijah desired to die,
and the Lord informed him that there were seven thousand who had
not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. There was a remnant when
Jerusalem was captured by Nebuchadnezzar: a remnant returned from
the captivity, and when the returned exiles degenerated, as seen in
Malachi, there were still the few left who assembled together and
whom the Lord owned.

In Romans xi we read that at the present time, during this age,
there is likewise a remnant according to the election of grace. It is
not a small remnant, who, during this age, turn to the Lord, believe
on Christ and thus become members of the Body of Christ, in which
there is neither Jew nor Gentile. And when the age closes, and the
nation faces the final calamity in the great tribulation, and the accept-

THE PROPHET MALACHI 321

ance of the false Christ, there will be that godly remnant, as we have
so often shown in our comments on the prophetic word.

THE LESSONS FOR OUR AGE

The Jewish age with all its glorious manifestations of the Lord in
behalf of His people Israel, and the great revelations given by the
prophets of the Lord, did not improve in its development and become
a better age. Neither does our age improve and become better, the
age in which God has revealed His best and offers to man the riches
of His grace in the Person of His blessed Son our Lord. It ends like
Old Testament times ended, in failure and apostasy. The moral con-
ditions of the Jews in the days of Malachi are the moral conditions of
Christendom. But as then, so there is now, a remnant of God's own,
who are faithful to Him, and whom He acknowledges as His true
Church.

THE DIVISIONS OF MALACHI

We divide the prophecy of Malachi in six sections: 1. Jehovah's
Love for His People; chapter i:l-5. 2. The Rebuke of the Priests;
chapter i:6-ll:ix. 3. Rebuke of the Social Conditions; chapter ii: 10-
16. 4. The Announcement of the Messenger and the Day of the Lord;
chapter iii:l-6. 5. Rebuke for Defrauding the Lord; chapter iii:7-
15. 6. The Remnant and the Concluding Prophecy; chapter iii:16-
iv:6.

322 TEE PROPHET MALACHI

Analysis and Annotations

1. JEHOVAH'S LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE
CHAPTER 1:1-5

The Message of Malachi begins with the siibhme state-
ment, "I have loved you, saith Jehovah." It is the message
to Israel. This love is written large on every page of their
history. A former prophet gave the message from the Lord,
"You only have I known of all the families of the earth"
(Amos iii:2). And long before that Moses had told them,
"Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them,
and He chose their seed after them, even you above all
people, as it is this day" (Deut. x:15). And the man of God
in his final utterance burst out in praise, "Yea, He loved the
people" (Deut. xxxiii:3). And this generation, brought back
through His mercy from Babylon, the generation that had
listened to the marvelous words of Haggai and Zechariah,
could brazenly answer back, "Wherein hast Thou loved
us?" How deep they had sunk! Greater still is the in-
sensibility of nominal Christendom which rejects, yea, de-
spises, the great love wherewith He has loved us in the gift
of His Son.

Then the Lord in infinite patience answered them, "Was
not Esau Jacob's brother? saith Jehovah : yet I loved Jacob,
and hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage
waste for the dragons of the wilderness." This takes us
back to Genesis, but in vain do we look for this statement
in that first book of the Bible. Though it is quoted also in
Romans ix, it is nowhere to be found in connection with the
story of the birth of the twins. The late scholar, William
Kelly, has expressed the whole matter so well that we can
do nothing better than to quote his excellent comment. "It
is only in Malachi that He says 'Esau have I hated.' I could
conceive nothing more dreadful than to say so in Genesis.
Never does Scripture represent God as saying before the

TEE PROPHET MALACHI 323

child was bora and had manifested his iniquity and proud
malice, 'Esau have I hated.' There is where the mind of
man is so erroneous. It is not meant, however, that God's
choice was determined by the character of the mdividual.
This would make man the ruler rather than God. Not so;
God's choice flows out of His own wisdom and nature. It
suits and is worthy of Himself; but the reprobation of any
man and of every unbeliever is never a question of the
sovereignty of God. It is the choice of God to do good
where and how He pleases; it is never the purpose of His
will to hate any man. There is no such doctrine in the Bible.
I hold, tlierefore, that, v/hile election is most clearly taught
in the Scriptures, the consequence that men draw from
election, namely, the reprobation of the non-elect, is a mere
reproduction of fatalism, common to some heathen and to
all Mohammedans, the unfoimded deduction of man's reason-
ing in divine things." With these good words we agree per-
fectly. The hatred against Esau is mentioned in this last
book, because it was well deserved, after all the opposition
and defiance of God the descendants of Esau, Edom, had
manifested. But the love wherewith Jacob was loved was
undeserved. His love for His people had been fully mani-
fested, as well as His displeasure against Edom by laying
his mountains and heritage waste, and all their attempts at
reconstruction failed. God was against him on account of
Edom's Vi^icked ways.

2. THE REBUKE OF THE PRIESTS

CHAPTER I:6.n:9

The priests, the religious leaders of the people, are de-
scribed first in their evil ways, and rebuked. But the re-
buke includes the entire people, for it is true, "like priests
like people." The Lord called Israel to be His firstborn son,
and therefore, nationally, He is their Father. He is the
Lord, and Israel called to be His servant. But they had not
honored Him, as a son should honor the father by obedience;
they did not fear Him, but despised His Name. This charge

3£4 TEE PROPHET MALACHI

brought forth from the side of the priests another brazeit
statement, the result of their hypocritical self -righteousness.
They answered back, demanding proof of the charge by
saying, "\Mierein have we despised Thy Name?" They
seemed to be hardened in their consciences, though they
kept up outward appearances. Such, too, is the religious
condition in much of Christendom. Another charge follows,
the charge that they offer polluted bread, vvhich brought
forth the retort, "Wherein have we polluted Thee?" They
had considered the table of the Lord contemptible; instead
of offering upon the altar the very best, as demanded in the
law, they showed their contempt by bringing the blind, the
lame and the sick, a thing which they would never have done
to an earthly governor, who would have been sorely dis-
pleased at such an insult and rejected their person on accoimt
of it. They had treated the Lord of Hosts shamefully in
their worship. Is it different in Christendom? Under such
conditions, even if they were to pray to Him to be gracious,
would He, or could He, regard their persons and listen to
their prayers (verse 9) ?

Verse 10 has often been interpreted to mean that the priests
were covetous and demanded money for every little service,
the opening of doors and the kindling of a fire. It has an-
other meaning. The better rendering is, "O, that some among
you would even shut the doors of the temple." The doors
are the doors which lead from the outer court into the holy
part. The Lord declares that it would be more profitable if
they would shut these doors, and kindle no longer a fire
upon the altar for nought; in other words, He wishes that
the whole outward worship might be stopped. The last
sentence of this verse shows this is the correct interpretation.
"I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of Hosts, neither
will I accept an offering at your hand." Nor has He today
any pleasure in the unscriptural worship of ritualistic Christ-
endom, or the dead. Spirit-less worship of an apostate
Protestantism.

The next verse (verse 11) is a prophecy. Is it fulfilled to-
day, during this age? We think not; it refers to the mil-

THE^^PROPHET MALACHI 325

lennial age. Critics say that the passage refers to the
worship of God among the heathen, under different names,
as expressed lines by a poet (Pope) :

"Father of all! in every age,
In every clime adored.
By saint, by savage, and by sage,
Jehovah, Jove or Lord."

Canon S. D. Driver says on this passage, "It is a tribute
to the truer and better side of heathen religion." It is no
such thing. But why should it not be applied to this Gospel
age, in which among all nations His Name is known and
called upon? There is a statement which excludes this
interpretation: "and in every place incense shall be offered
unto My Name, and a pure offering." The Romish Catholic
Church uses this passage as one of her proof texts for that
abomination, the Mass. In the canons of the Council of
Trent we read that "the Mass is that pure sacrifice which
the Lord predicted by Malachi should be offered to His
Name in every place." Another prominent writer declares
that it is "the bloodless sacrifice of the New Testament, the
holy sacrifice of the mass." All this is Satanic invention.
It is true the Name of the Lord is laiown among the nations,
but no incense, sacrifice or offering is connected with the
worship of the Lord in the true church. For His heavenly
people the earthly sacrifices and incense, offering and priest-
hood, are all passed; and more than that, these things
would be inconsistent with their heavenly standing and
calling. It will be different during the age to come, the
millennium. The last chapters of Ezekiel reveal the fact
that with the millennial worship in the millennial temple
incense and offerings are connected. The prophecy of the
eleventh verse will be fulfilled during the Millennium.
Now His Name is not universally great among the Gentiles;
it will be otherwise when the Lord Jesus Christ has come
back.

Then follow additional expostulations on account of these
conditions.

In the second chapter the priests are again addressed. If

S26 THE PROPHET MALACEI

they do not hear, do not lay it to heart, if their consciences
are not aroused, to give glory unto His Name, He would
curse their blessings; yea, they had been cursed already;
He would punish them severely for their contempt. Levi
and the covenant with him is especially mentioned, on
account of his faithfulness at the time when the golden calf
had been set up by Israel in the wilderness, in contrast with
Aaron who gave way to the demand of the people. But what
a contrast between Levi and the priests in Malachi's day!
For the priests' lips should keep knowledge, and they should
seek the law at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the
Lord of Hosts. Such is the calling of the priest. But they
had departed out of the way; they caused many to stumble
at the law; they had corrupted the covenant of Levi. There-
fore the Lord made them contemptible and base before all
the people.

3. THE REBUKE OF THE SOCIAL CONDITIONS
CHAPTER n:10.16

The priests were corrupt, and with their bad example the
people were likewise corrupt. It is the prophet who speaks
in verse 10. The One Father was Jehovah, with whom the
nation was in covenant relation. They had one Father, and
were one as a nation. By profaning that covenant they
dealt treacherously every man against his brother. The
abomination in social life, by which the covenant was pro-
faned, and the holiness of the Lord outraged, was the
marriage with the daughters of the heathen. They had put
away their own Israelitish wives in order to enter into
these unholy alliances. The Jew acted faithlessly toward
his brother, both vrhen he contracted a marriage with a
heathen woman, and when he put away his legitimate wife,
and thereby descrated the covenant of the fathers, i. e., the
covenant that Jehovah made vvith their fathers when He
chose them to be a separated people. Those who have done
this will surely be cut off. Verse 13 describes the weeping
and the tears of the abandoned Jewish wives; it is the same
condition, only worse, which is recorded in Ezra and Nehe-

THE PROPHET MALACHI 327

miah. All was an abomination unto the Lord. Over fifty
years ago a writer called attention to the divorce evil in
the United States. He wrote then

"The frequency of divorce in the United States, so that in one of the
States divorce is allowed for "misconduct," reveals the same state of
things existing now, as was here condemned by Jehovah, and must
bring with it the same evils, and the same punishment. What tongue
can adequately tell, what heart conceive, the untold misery from this
cause, especially to the deserted wives, and the children left without
a mother's care! How little is the indissoluble nature of the marriage
relation regarded! and the fact, that the Lord was the witness of it,
and v»'ill be a swift v/itness against those who violate it! The Saviour
only allows of one cause of divorce, and regards divorce for any other
as adultery."

Since then this evil has increased a hundredfold or more
among professing Christians, so that it threatens to under-
mine the home and all family life. It is the sign of the
rapid disintegration of our nation.

And yet rebuked for these social conditions and wicked
deeds, they could ask another "Wherefore?" They were
so hardened that they could not see why they were to blame.
The difficult fifteenth verse refers to the marriage relation,
in which God makes of twain one. He made the woman for
man, though He had the residue of the Spirit, the creative
power by which he might have made many women for one
man. And wherefore one? that is, one woman for the man —
that He might seek a godly seed, to perpetuate those who
are godly, which is counteracted by divorce, such as they
had practised. It seemed as if the renmant who feared Him
were being influenced by these corrupt practices, hence the
warning. "Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none
deal treacherously against the wife of his youth."

4. THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE MESSENGER AND THE
DAY OF THE LORD

CHAPTER ni:l-6

In this chapter and in the next we have the prophecies of
Malachi as to the Messiah and His forerunner. The last
verse of the preceding chapter belongs rightly to this chapter.

328 THE PROPHET MALACHI

"Ye have wearied the Lord with yolir words. Yet ye say,
Wherein have we wearied Him? When ye say, Every one
that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He
dehghteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?" It
is this last bold question, produced by their arrogant pride
and self-security which opens the way for the prophetic
message in this chapter. "Where is the God of judgment?"
The answer is, "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he
shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye
seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger
of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, he shall come,
saith the Lord of hosts." The first announcement of the
messenger, who goes before the Lord, is quoted in Matthew
xi:10; Mark i:2; Luke i:76 and vii:27. Isaiah, too, had
spoken a similar prophecy in chapter xl:3. This prophecy
was fulfilled in the person of John the Baptist, as the herald
of His first coming; still this prophecy considered in the
light of the prophecy in the next chapter, concerning the
coming of Elijah, remains yet to be fully accomplished.
John the Baptist was not Elijah; Elijah is still to come and
do his work preceding the coming of the Lord. The mes-
senger is followed by the Lord, the messenger, or Angel
(the meaning of the Hebrew word) of the Covenant. The
word Lord is here the word Adon with the article, always
used of God. It is the Lord God who comes, and His oflBcial
title is "The Angel of the Covenant." Many expositors
have blundered here in that they imagined the word covenant
means the new covenant of which the Lord Jesus is the
Mediator (Heb. ix:15). But it is not the truth. The Mes-
senger of the Covenant is the same "Angel of the Lord" who
appeared frequently in Israel's past history, and generally
in the form of a human being. The Angel of the Lord is the
Son of God in His preincaJ-nation manifestations, and He is
announced here as the Angel of the Covenant. The nation
believed in His coming, and in the question "Where is the
God of judgment?" they had asked for Him. That there was
a partial fulfillment of this prophecy when our Lord, the
Messiah of Israel, came unexpectedly in the temple, must

THE PROPHET MALACHI 329

not be overlooked, but that it was the fulfillment of these
words is not true. It will be accomplished in the day of His
Return, preceded by another messenger. Their question
"WTiere is the God of judgment?" will then be fully ans-
wered, and what it will be we read in the next two verses
(verses 2 and 3). He will purge the nation of the dross,
beginning with the sons of Levi. It is the same as in Zech-
ariah xiii:9. John the Baptist announced the same also,
and when he gave his inspired testimony of the purging of
the threshing floor and the burning of the chaff with un-
quenchable fire (Matt. iii:12) he referred not to the first
coming of Christ, but to His second coming.

As the result of this judgment in store for the nation,
when the sorcerers, the adulterers, the false swearers and the
oppressors will be dealt with, we read in the fourth verse
"Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant
unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years."

5. REBUKE FOR DEFRAUDING THE LORD
CHAPTER 111:7-15

Another rebuke is administered. They were alway a stiff-
necked people, never obedient to His ordinances. His
gracious call to return unto Him, and the promise that He
will return unto them is answered by "Wherein shall we
return?" They had robbed God of what was His right.
The tithes and offerings which He demanded in the law cov-
enant had been withheld. On account of it the blessing was
lacking and curse was upon the nation. Then follows a
command to bring all the tithes into the storehouse, the
challenge to prove Him, the assurance of abundant blessing.
It is strange that even those who have a good knowledge of
the truth, the dispensations and the heavenly position of a
Christian, should fall back upon this verse and claim that
it is binding and should be practised among believers. For
a system like Seventh Day Adventism, a system which has
perverted the Gospel of Grace, which denies God's oath-
bound covenants with Israel, which claims to be the true
Israel, the system to which applies the term "the synagogue

330 THE PROPHET MALACHI

of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not;" for such
a cult to make this command a binding law is not surprising.
But well taught believers should never look upon this passage
as in any w^ay in force today. True Christian giving, like
everything else in the life and service of a true believer,
must be done, not by law but through grace, imder the
direction of the Holy Spirit. Nowhere in the New Testament
is there anything said about tithing. A believer must be a
cheerful giver, giving as the Lord has prospered him, com-
municating to others, doing good, remembering the poor,
ministering in temporal things to those who minister in
spiritual things; but all this giving must be under the direc-
tion of the Spirit of God.

The day will come when His earthly people will minister
to the wants of the Lord's house (a Jewish term), so that
there will be an abundant supply for sacrifices. That will
be in the future day of their restoration, when the devourer
will be rebuked (verse 11). It is at that time, when the
millennium has come, that all nations will call them blessed,
when they shall be a delightsome land (Isa. Ixii :4) . This has
never been since it was written by the pen of Malachi.

6. THE REMNANT AND THE CONCLUDING PROPHECY
CHAPTER III:16-IV:6

In the midst of all these moral conditions, the apostasy
of the masses, we find a pleasing picture of a godly portion,
whom the Lord mentions in a special manner. There were
those who feared the Lord. They had no sympathy with
the wicked practices of their brethren; they did not share
the contempt and unbelief manifested by the rank and file
of the people. They were drawn together by the Spirit of
God; they had fellowship one with another. They came
together to think upon His Name, to honor Him, to read
His Word, to call unto the Lord. And the Lord heard; He
was pleased with them, and Re is represented as recording
their names in the Book of Remembrance, the bookkeeping
in glory (Psa. lvi:8). He has a special promise for such.
"And thev shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that

THE PROPHET MALACHI 331

day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a
man spareth his own son that serveth him."

Such a remnant of godly ones was in existence in Malachi's
day, and when they passed away others took their places.
The Lord preserved such a godly seed in every generation
throughout the four hundred silent years. And when that
silence was broken, by the Angel's message to the minister-
ing priest Zechariah, we see such a remnant on the threshold
of the New Testament. Good old Anna and Simeon, the
shepherds and others belonged to this waiting. God-fearing
remnant. And so it will be before His second coming. A
similar remnant will then be on earth awaiting His glorious
return.

It is so in Christendom. Departure from the faith soon
manifested itself in the professing church. Decline followed
decline, till the awful Romish apostasy was consummated.
But in every generation the Lord kept a people separated
unto Himself. The Reformation came, followed by revivals
and recovery of Truth. But the Spirit of God does not pre-
dict that this age ends in universal acceptance of the Truth
and imiversal righteousness and peace, but He predicts a
universal apostasy. But even then He has a remnant true
to Him. That remnant is seen prophetically in the Church
message to Philadelphia (Rev. iii).

In the fourth chapter is the final message of the Old Tes-
tament Prophetic Word. The Day, that coming Day of the
Lord, so often mentioned in every portion of the Old Testa-
ment, is once more brought before us. It is the day of fire,
the day of reckoning with the wicked, who will be consumed
like stubble. But that day brings not only the fire of judg-
ment, the winding up of "Man's Day," the dethronement
of evil, but it will be the day of the simrise. "The Sun of
Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings." The
Sun of Righteousness is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the
beautiful symbol of His personal, visible and glorious com-
ing to usher in that day, which will last for a thousand years,
in which He will rule in power and glory. The Old Testa-
ment knows nothing of His coming as the Morning Star.

332 THE PROPHET MALACHI

That coming is exclusively revealed in the New Testament
in relation with the Church. The Morning Star precedes
the Sunrise. Even so, before that day comes, before the
great tribulation, with wrath poured out. He comes for His
saints as the Morning Star. The Church does not wait for
the rising of the Sun, but for the rising of the Morning Star.
While the world sleeps, and the world-church dreams its idle
dreams, true believers look for the Morning Star. Some day
we shall see that glorious IMorning Star, when suddenly He
descends with that long promised shout.

"VSTien the Sun of Righteousness arises, He will bring heal-
ing and blessing. His waiting earthly people, the remnant,
will be filled with joy and gambol as calves, while the wicked
will be trodden under foot.

The whole chapter is a future prophecy. While there has
been a partial fulfillment of the first verse of the third chap-
ter, everything in this concluding chapter awaits its fulfill-
ment. Elijah the prophet is announced. John the Baptist
came in the Spirit and power of Elijah, but he was not the
Elijah promised here. If ye will receive it, said our Lord,
this is Elijah who should come. It was a testimony to faith
and not the fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy. If the Jews
had accepted Christ, John would have been Elijah. Our
Lord bears witness to this. "Elias truly shall come first
and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is
come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto
him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of
man suffer of them." When the age closes another one will
appear, the Elijah announced by Malachi, who does his
work of restoration before the coming of the great and dread-
ful day of the Lord. His work will be carried on among the
people Israel. Deceivers and impostors have occasionally
arisen who claimed to be this Elijah; the most prominent in
recent years is the Dowieite delusion of Zion City. Such
is the havoc produced by not dividing the Word of Truth
rightly.

The close of the Old Testament Prophetic Word is ma-
jestically solemn. In the beginning of the Old Testament

THE PROPHET MALACHI 333

stands written the sin and the curse which came upon the
race through the fall of man. The final testimony in Malachi
speaks of Him who comes to take the curse upon Himself,
the promised Christ; who comes to deal with the wicked,
who comes to bless and to remove that curse. The New
Testament which follows tells us of Him and of His match-
less work, the fullness of redemption and the all-sufficiency
of Grace. And the final New Testament book shows the
consummation, the coming judgments, the righteous judg-
ments of the Lord, and the fulfillment of all "which was
spoken by His holy prophets;" ending with the great words,
"Surely I come quickly! Amen. Even so, come, Lord
Jesus!"

Finis

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